Into the Great Wide Open
by DocHoliday0316
Summary: Daniel Marston is a former courier. He was content with wandering the Mojave after helping defeat Caesar's Legion, doing the occasional good deed. However, after exploring an out of the way, abandoned bunker with his companions, he finds himself in a whole new world. A world of black beasts and hunters-in-training.
1. Explorin' A Bunker

**Into the Great Wide Open**

 **Chapter 1: Explorin' A Bunker**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Fallout: New Vegas_ or _RWBY_. The former is owned by Obsidian Entertainment and Bethesda Softworks, and the latter is owned by Rooster Teeth. All I own is the Ultimate Edition of _New Vegas,_ and a copy of _RWBY Vol. 1._

* * *

[Abandoned Bunker, Mojave Wasteland]

If there was one word that could be used to describe the Mojave, it would be that it was hot. It contained dry stretches of desert with plant life dotting it, towns and settlements made up of Pre-War buildings, and long, winding roads that seemed to go on forever. The hot, blazing sun bearing down on one's back would make anyone sweat like crazy. However, the heat was a minor nuisance compared to the things that tried to kill you. There were different kinds of dangerous beasts roamed the Mojave. These ranged from the swift Cazadores to the relentless Nightstalkers, to the deadly, brutal Deathclaws. In addition to these creatures were the Raiders, who stole, raped, and pillaged off of the settlers of the Mojave. Even worse than them were Caesar's Legion, slavers who modeled themselves off the ancient Roman Empire. The only secure protection from these raiders was the army of the New Californian Republic.

And throughout all of the chaos of the Mojave Wasteland, a lone bunker remained untouched. It rested on the edge of the Mojave, and it been undiscovered ever since the bombs fell.

However, it's days of being unknown were about to end.

With a loud thud, the door to the bunker was kicked open. A man walked into said bunker, his eyes searching the room. The man appeared to be around 28 years old, and stood at 5'10" with an athletic build. He had messy brown hair that reached his ears and the back of his neck, and a few strands framed his face. Completing his facial features were a pair of bright blue eyes and a connected mustache and goatee.

His attire was rather interesting. On top of his head was a brown cowboy hat that had rings along the decorative band. Around his neck was a red bandana. He wore a white shirt with sleeves that stopped above his elbows. Going from his left shoulder to his midsection was a bandolier for rifle magazines. He also wore a pair of black pants with kneepads, which were tucked into a pair of black boots. Around his waist was a belt which held a few pieces of equipment. Attached to the right side of the belt was a gun holster that held a rather large pistol. On the left side of the belt buckle was pouch and located near his left thigh was a bowie knife kept in a sheath. Completing his attire was a blue grey, sleeveless duster. On the back of said duster was the symbol of the New California Republic, the two-headed bear. Going from the man's right shoulder and resting on his hip was a leather courier's satchel.

However, on his left arm was a rather interesting device. It looked like an incredibly bulky wristwatch. It took up a good part of his forearm, and had a very large screen. It had three buttons at the bottom of the screen, each labeled "STATS", "INVENTORY", and "DATA" respectively. There was a dial on near the left on the screen, and another dial on top of the device's built in glove.

This man was Daniel J. Marston, courier for the Mojave Express. That was, until, he was ambushed outside the town of Goodsprings, took two bullets to the head, and was left for dead in a shallow grave. He considered himself pretty lucky to survive that. After many adventures and taking on a few odd jobs, Marston managed to track down the man who shot him. Said man was a New Vegas gangster by the name of Benny, who had big plans involving the package that the courier was delivering. When Marston finally founded Benny, he tricked him into talking in a nice, private room. There, the gangster confessed his plans to the courier, and then tried to kill him. However, Marston turned the tables on him, and executed Benny with his own gun, all with an honest-to-God smile on his face. After that, he'd meet with the man who'd hired him, the enigmatic Mr. House, and disabled him. He then took on a few jobs helping out the NCR, eventually helping them lead an assault on Caesar's Legion. During said assault, the courier had personally killed Caesar himself. He had crippled his leg with a shotgun and finished him off by stabbing him twenty-three times in the chest with his knife. After that, Marston had decided to go and explore the rest of the Mojave while taking the occasional odd job.

Marston took the pistol out of its holster, twirled it in his right hand, and aimed it around the room. The pistol was a 5.56mm revolver that had been heavily modified, which included having a motorized cylinder. Marston had bought it when visiting the settlement of Novac, and had affectionately named the pistol "That Gun". His eyes continued to scan the room, looking for any threat. The courier let out a sigh of relief as he saw none in the first room.

"It looks like the coast is clear," Marston called out as he twirled his gun before holstering it again. With that, two people and a robot entered the room.

The first person was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-30s. She had blue eyes and reddish-brown hair kept up in a ponytail. She wore a brown, suede leather jacket, a pink and white flannel shirt with the first three buttons undone, black gloves, worn out jeans with a hole above the left knee, and a pair of old, scuffed cowboy boots. She also wore a rattan cowboy hat with a black band, a diamond shaped pendant with a rose in the center of it, and a bandana hanging off of the back of her belt. On her right side was a holster, which had a .44 magnum revolver in it. Said revolver looked fancy, with a nickel plated finish with engravings and mother of pearl grips. Slung around one shoulder was a a rustic brown canvas knapsack. She carried around a 12 gauge, pump action hunting shotgun. The shotgun had been heavily customized. The stock and forearm of the weapon had woodland camouflage on it, and a choke was fitted on the end of the barrel. To finish off the modifications to the weapon was an extended magazine tube, increasing the gun's ammo capacity from 5 rounds to 8.

The second person was a man who appeared to be in his mid-20s with a serious expression on his face. He had blonde hair that had been shaved. He wore a red beret that bared the insignia of the NCR's 1st Recon division, and a pair of sunglasses. His clothing wouldn't look out of place for a soldier fighting in desert combat. It consisted of a short-sleeved khaki shirt under a tan colored breastplate and shoulder pads. On each side of the sleeves was a patch of the 1st Recon Division. Running from his left shoulder to his right midsection was a bandoleer for rifle magazines. Wrapped around his forearms were tan arm-wraps. Completing the ensemble was a pair of khaki combat pants tucked into tan boots and a belt containing equipment. On the left of the buckle was a canteen while to the right of the buckle were two pouches. On the right side of his belt was a holster with a custom 10mm handgun and behind that was a machete. In his hands was a 5.56mm marksman carbine. It was a customized with woodland camouflage and above the magazine was the insignia of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Lastly, was the robot. It was spherical, and was around a foot and a half in diameter. On the top of it was an antenna and a small radar dish and at the bottom was what appeared to be a compact laser weapon.

"You alright, boss," the woman asked. Her name was Rose of Sharon Cassidy (called Cass for short). She was a former caravan boss that had decided to follow Marston when the courier had meet up with her at an NCR outpost (specifically, said outpost's bar).

"Can you really blame me for bein' a bit jittery, Cass? Last time I explored a bunker, I got kidnapped by some nut and was forced to go treasure huntin'."

"At least you got all that gold," Cass commented as she shifted her shotgun in her hands.

"Yeah, that was a nice compensation," Marston commented as he pulled something out of his satchel. It was a canteen with blue fabric wrapped around it. Said fabric had a yellow number 13 on it. Marston unscrewed the cap off the canteen, took a swig of its content, and then placed the cap back on before storing it away.

"You'd think someone would discover this place by now," the man grunted as he pushed up his sunglasses. He was Craig Boone, former sniper for the NCR's 1st Recon Division. Marston had meet the sniper in Novac, and had helped him discover who was responsible for selling his wife to the Legion. After that, the courier had convinced him to go traveling with him.

"Looks like nobody looked hard enough," Marston commented as he put a few commands into his PipBoy. With that, a bright light came from the device and illuminated the room.

"Alright, let's see if there's anything worth takin' here," the courier said as he walked towards a nearby flight of stairs going downwards. The rest of the party followed him, with the robot, named ED-E, at the rear.

The group made their way down into the facility, keeping their weapons at the ready. Knowing their luck, there was probably an army of feral ghouls waiting down there to tear them to pieces, just like in Vault 34. However, the entire facility was quiet. Too quiet for Marston's liking. The group soon found themselves at the bottom of the stairs, and in front of them was a hallway containing several doors.

"I reckon this must be the livin' quarters," Marston said as he walked forward. "It's best if we split up to cover more ground. ED-E, you're with me."

The robot gave off a beep as it followed the courier into the first room. It was very spartan, with only a bed, a dresser, a desk, and a cabinet in the room. Marston immediately went to the dresser and started to pull out the drawers. The only thing in the drawers were a few sets of pre-war clothing. Marston was comfortable with what he currently had in his wardrobe, and he doubt anyone would pay much for the clothes. Therefore, he ignored it.

The courier then moved on to the desk, and opened up the drawer. He grinned as he saw its contents.

"Now we're talkin'," he said as he started to pull out the loot from the drawer. It consisted of a bag of caps, three packs of Big Boss cigarettes, and three magazines. The first two magazines were comic books, issues of _The Silver Shroud_ and _¡La Fantoma!_ respectively. The second was a copy of Guns & Bullets. Marston's placed his loot on the bed and then went to the cabinet.

The courier opened both of the cabinet doors and looked inside. In the cabinet were a few stimpaks, some syringes of Med-X, a bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla, a large bottle of whiskey. However, there was one item that caught Marston's interest. It was a .32 caliber, break top, double action revolver. It had a nickel finish and it could be easily concealed on one's person. Next to the revolver were three cases of .32 caliber rounds.

Marston grabbed the revolver and one of the boxes of ammo from the cabinet. He quickly broke the top of the revolver open, loaded the chambers, and snapped it shut. He then placed the gun into a pocket on his satchel. Marston knew that the revolver he just found was nothing more than scrap metal. It was a peashooter compared to the other guns kept in his arsenal. However, the courier had a fondness for old wheelguns. And the gun would make a nice concealed weapon.

"Looks like this is a mighty fine haul, ED-E," he said as placed the rest of the cabinet's contents on the bed. However, he separated the bottle of whiskey and one of the packs of cigarettes away from the rest of the loot. ED-E gave off a few beeps in response to Marston's comment. The courier raised an eyebrow at the eyebot's response.

"Hey, at least _I_ think it's a nice haul. We got smokes, some reading material, and a lil' bit of money."

Marston faced the stash of loot with his Pip Boy in front of him. He put in a few commands onto the device and a flash of green light appeared. With that, the loot was gone, safely stored inside of the Pip Boy. That was the amazing thing about Pip Boys: you could store physical items as data on it. It definitely made hauling around weapons and supplies a lot easier. Marston then pulled out a cigarette from the pack and placed it in his mouth. He then took out a cigarette lighter from his pocket, which had a pin up girl engraved on the bottom half of it. The courier lit up the cigarette, took a drag on it, and blew out a puff of smoke.

"C'mon, let's see what Boone and Cass are up to," Marston said as he pocketed the rest of the pack and grabbed the bottle of whiskey. He walked out into the hallway, ED-E following him, and saw his two companions in the halls, standing guard.

"You found anything," he asked, taking another drag on his cigarette as he approached. Both of them shock their heads. Cass then spoke up.

"We found a few caps, but nothing of real interest, boss"

"Well, I found a lil' something for you, Whiskey Rose," Martson said as he tossed her the bottle of booze. The caravan boss caught it and grinned like an idiot as she looked down at the bottle.

"Mother's milk," she commented as she pulled the cork out with her teeth and then took a swig out of it. She let out a sigh of ecstasy as she capped the cork on the bottle. She then unslung her knapsack, opened it up, and placed the bottle of whiskey within it.

"Thank you, boss."

"Think nothing of it."

"If you two are done, there's still one more room to explore," Boone grunted as he walked towards the door at the end of the hallway. The rest of the party followed, and Marston was the first to enter the room. Said room appeared to be a laboratory of some sort. In the middle of the room was a device that looked very similar to a Tesla coil. To the right of the device was a table containing three terminals. To the left of the device was a wall containing a variety of controls. The last piece of furniture in the room were three cabinets.

"Alright, if there's nothing worth taking in this room, we'll leave," Marston said as he entered the lab. He walked over to one of the terminals and pressed a few keys on it, trying to boot it up. However, his efforts were fruitless.

"Huh, must be disconnected," he said as he walked over the control panel. Boone and Cass were currently searching the cabinets while ED-E floated near him. Marston took another drag on his cigarette as he spoke his mind.

"What do you think that think was made for?"

"I'd reckon it was made to be some sort of pre-war alternate energy source," Cass said as she picked up a sensor module from the cabinet before putting it down.

"For all we know, that damn thing could be a lamp," Boone muttered as he continued scrounge through the cabinet. Marston blew out another puff of smoke as he leaned back against the control panel. His eyes widen when he felt his back press up against a button, and the device in the middle of the room began to glow. Everyone in the room looked at the courier, who had a sheepish look on his face.

"Boss, what did you do," Cass said plainly as the device began to let out a loud whirling sound.

"Uh…"

"You pressed a button, didn't you," Boone said dryly as the light and the noise both grew in intensity.

"Look, I didn't do it on pur-"

Before Marston could finish his defense, the light suddenly enveloped everyone in the room. The light quickly fell down, revealing that everyone in the room was now gone, never to be seen in the Wasteland again.

* * *

[Unknown Location, Another World]

Marston quickly landed on his ass as he fell to the ground. One thing for certain was that they were out of the bunker. He turned to his right and saw the rest of his party. Cass and Boone were dogpiled on each other, with the former lying across the latter's chest. ED-E was floating nearby them, perfectly unharmed. The courier let out a sigh of relief and began to look at his surroundings. His eyes widened at what he saw. He got up, took off his hat, and got another good look.

Surrounding the party were trees. Not those, pathetic, withered old things that they'd encounter in the Mojave. These trees were lush and beautiful, full of green leaves. Marston had only seen these kind of trees in old pre-War pictures.

After a few minutes of taking in the beauty of the forest, Marston broke the silence with a single sentence:

"Well, it looks like we ain't in Kansas anymore."

Next Time - Little Red and Snow White

* * *

 **A/N** **:** Welcome to my latest fic, _Into the Great Wide Open_.

First off, I know what you're all thinking: you're thinking "DocHoliday, why are you working on _ANOTHER_ fic? Why won't you update your other stuff?" Well, I should mention that I had this plot bunny finished in early November, and have been sitting on it for awhile. I thought it would be nice to publish it as a Thanksgiving gift.

Anyway, my idea for this fic came from my recent play through of _New Vegas_ , and I liked the idea of my take of the Courier running around Remnant with his pals. However, this is in spite of one of my pet peeve with _RWBY_ crossovers (a good number of them has a character from one crossover getting thrown into Remnant). However, I think I can make this plot bunny work.

Also, for those of you who need a better visual picture of Marston, his physical appearance is based off of Norman Reedus (who plays Daryl Dixon on AMC's _The Walking Dead_ ). And the title of the fic is a reference. Whoever correctly guesses the reference gets Cyber-Cookies.

I should let you all know that the update rate of this fic will be once in a blue moon, since I have my other fics to update, as well as college work to do for the finals.

Lastly, please leave a review (since I REALLY enjoy feedback), and don't forget to fave or follow if you like it. And I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving (or Turkey Day, for those of you who are fans of _Mystery Science Theater 3000_ , such as I).


	2. Little Red and Snow White

**Chapter 2: Little Red and Snow White**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Fallout: New Vegas_ or _RWBY_. The former is owned by Obsidian Entertainment and Bethesda Softworks while the latter is owned by Rooster Teeth

* * *

[Unknown Forest, Another World]

Marston continued to gaze at his surroundings as Cass and Boone gathered their bearings. He'd never seen so many trees in his life before. He'd saw trees when he'd visit Jacobstown, but those were few and much more spread out. Marston then noticed something on the ground. It was his cigarette, which had miraculously survived the trip somehow. He picked it up and took a drag on it before turning to his companions.

"You alright," he asked as Cass righted herself up. She then got to her knees and picked up her discarded shotgun.

"I'm fine, boss."

"You know I've been through worse, Marston," Boone said as he got up, his marksmen carbine still in his hands. He then looked around at the forest.

"Any idea where we are?"

"We're definitely outside of the Mojave, on account of all 'em trees," Marston said as he fiddled with his Pipboy. He pressed the "data" button and scrolled over to the map, hoping to get an idea of where they were. However, he raised an eyebrow at what he saw. On the screen were the words "LOCATION UNKNOWN. INSUFFICENT DATA.". The courier let out a sigh as he lowered the device.

"My PipBoy is telling me nothin'. As it is, we're lost."

"That's a pisser," Cass said as she kicked a nearby rock. "What do you suppose we do, boss?"

"Best bet would be keep walking. There's got to be a settlement or somethin' 'round here. Any objects?"

"I'm fine with it," Boone said as he adjusted his ever-present sunglasses. ED-E let out a beep of confirmation and Cass answered with a nod.

"Good. Now let's head out," Marston said as he took a few steps forward. However, he soon stopped in his tracks and looked around the forest, a feeling of dread washing over him. His hand idly rested over the grip of That Gun.

"Something wrong, boss?"

"It feels like something's watchin' us, Cass."

The courier's fears were confirmed when some… _thing_ jumped out of the shadows. It resembled a wolf, only it was much, much bigger. It was pitch black as the night, with glowing red eyes and what looked like bone plating covering parts of it. The creature immediately went after Marston.

"JESUS CHRIST," he shouted as the creature pounced at him. The courier attempted to grab his revolver from his holster, but the beast was too quick and tackled him to the ground. The beast was then on top of Marston. The courier brought up his left forearm to block the beast's maw while he still tried to reach for That Gun. Cass, Boone, and ED-E immediately opened fire on the beast. Cass worked the action of her shotgun, and fired another blast of buckshot. Boone fired round after round from his marksmen carbine while ED-E let out a volley of energy blasts. However, one of ED-E's shots went astray and hit Marston in the leg. The courier grimaced at the pain as he finally freed his gun from his holster. With that, he aimed the revolver under the beast's head and fired it. The round pierced straight through its head, and Marston continued to pull the trigger until the gun clicked empty. The beast let out a howl of pain as Cass and Boone fired their last remaining rounds into the beast, and it fell over dead. Marston quickly scurried away before the corpse could collapse on him, and got to his feet.

"Lousy, stinkin' mutt," Marston grumbled as he repeatedly kick the carcass. However, his eyes widened as the beast's body began to disintegrate and float away into the air. Cass raised an eyebrow at the disappearing corpse while Boone lowered his sunglasses to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The corpse was soon gone and now nothing more than dust in the wind. The courier than grunted as he felt the injury ED-E accidentally gave him. He turned towards the eyebot with an annoyed look on his face.

"ED-E, watch where you're firin' next time," he said as he began to rummage through his satchel before taking out a stimpak. He then jabbed the stimpak into his right thigh and let the medication flow through his body. His injury was healed within a couple of seconds.

"What the hell you think that thing was," Boone said as he loaded a fresh magazine into his carbine and chambered a round into it.

"Seemed like a furry, armored lil' deathclaw to me," Cass joked a she took out a few 12 gauge magnum shells and loaded them into her shotgun. Once the last shell was loaded, she pumped the action on it.

"Whatever it is, it's dead now," Marston said as he pressed a button on the left side of That Gun. The cylinder of the revolver then moved out and popped out the empty shells. Marston took out a speedloader from his pocket and loaded it into the cylinder. The cylinder moved back into place and made a ringing sound. Marston holstered his revolver before pressing a few buttons on PipBoy. A flash of green light appeared and two new weapons were in the courier's hands.

The first was a hatchet that had a rubber-gripped wooden handle. The second weapon was a lever-action rifle. The receiver of the gun was a polished steel, and the rear sight was simple and circular. The most unique part of the rifle, however, was on its stock. Wrapped around the stock was a piece of leather, and said leather had what looked like a medicine wheel that had a few feathers hanging off of it. Due to the medicine wheel attached to it, Marston had christened the rifle "Medicine Stick". Marston slung the rifle over his right shoulder and tucked the hatchet in his belt right behind That Gun. He then turned to his group.

"Let's get a move on. Daylight's burnin'," he said as he began to walk, his right hand grasping the swing on his rifle. Cass and Boone grabbed their respective weapons and followed their leader, with ED-E at the end.

The group continued to walk for several minutes. However, they were still stuck in the seemingly endless sea of trees. After a few more minutes, Marston suddenly stepped off to the side and leaned against a tree. He took his finished cigarette from his mouth, dropped it to the ground, and grinded it underneath his heel. He then brought his canteen out and took a drink from it. Cass stopped by him, her shotgun resting on her shoulder. She looked at her friend as he put his canteen away.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just stopping for a breather. You go on ahead, I'll catch up to y'all in a bit."

Cass replied with a nod and then walked off. Marston then reached into inside of his duster and pulled out a cigarette pack from one of the inside pockets. He took one of them, placed it in his mouth, and brought his lighter out.

However, a voice interrupted the courier before he could light his smoke.

"Huh? Who are you?"

Martson turned his head to where the voice was coming from. A few yards to his left was a teenage girl who looked around fifteen or so. She was very youthful looking, with black hair with red tips, silver eyes, and pale skin. Her choice of clothing looked interesting to Marston. It looked a hell of a lot more cleaner and colorful than what he saw in the Mojave. She wore a black blouse and skirt with red trimmings, a corset with red laces, and knee high boots with stockings, also red and black. What stood out the most to Marston was the red cloak and hood that she wore, which was attached to her clothing by a pair of cross shaped pins. Attached to her back was a rectangular piece of metal, which was also colored black and red.

" _Huh, must be one of the locals,_ " Marston thought to himself as he pocketed his lighter and cigarette. He might as well greet the girl, and she in turn might tell him where the hell he was. The courier then began to approach her.

"Howdy," he greeted with a tip pf his hat. The girl simply blinked at Marston's greeting.

"Uh, didn't you hear my question?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. The name's Marston, and I'm not around here," the courier said as he stopped in his tracks and extended his hand.

However, in the blink of an eye, Martson found himself facing the business end of a rapier. The courier quickly held his hands up as his eyes followed the rapier to the person holding it. Said person was also a teenage girl. She was slightly older than the one with the cloak, but was also slightly shorter. She had snow white hair kept up in a ponytail, and ice blue eyes, with a scar over the left one. She wore icy white dress with white high heels.

"Who are you and what do you want," the girl, one Weiss Schnee, said as the courier kept his hands up in the air, a look of nonchalance on his face. During his travels in the Mojave, he'd sometimes find himself with a weapon pointed at his face.

"…is this how you normally greet folk around these parts?"

"Just answer the question."

"Y'know, I'd be more willin' to oblige with your request if I didn't have a sword in my face," Martson said as he slowly began to lower his hands.

"Fine, I'll lower Myternaster if you hand over your weapons."

The courier frowned once he heard the request. Living in the wastes had taught him one thing: surrendering your weapons was a bad idea. Even when he went into one of the casinos on the Strip, he'd smuggle in a knife or a .22 pistol, just in case anything happened. The courier adjusted his hat as he answered Weiss.

"Sure, you can have my weapons… when you pry them from my cold, dead body."

"What? Look, I'm being perfectly reasonable here."

"No, _I'm_ the one who's being reasonable. I don't go around threatening people I just met with a goddamn sword!"

"Uh, can we all just calm," the girl with the cloak said, trying to stop both of them before they could devolve into full blown arguing. However, this was soon forgotten as she heard the bushes nearby rustling.

A few moments later, Marston's group stepped out of the bushes. ED-E was at the lead, cavalry music blaring from its speakers. Cass followed the eyebot with her shotgun at the ready. Boone was at the rear, idly holding his carbine with his finger off the trigger.

"You can't go five minutes without getting into trouble, can ya boss," Cass muttered as she approached, her shotgun trained on Weiss. Boone and ED-E suddenly stopped in their tracks as Marston smiled to himself. Cass, meanwhile, focused her attention on the heiress.

"You, with the sword, step away from him. That man's both my friend and my employer."

"Look, I was just questioning him, and he wasn't cooperating."

"You better back off, princess, or you'll find out what a 12 gauge buckshot round can do to a human head."

The heiress and the caravan boss continued to argue as everyone else looked on. ED-E turned to Boone and let out a beep of concern.

"I'm not getting involved," he grunted as he adjusted his sunglasses by pushing up the bridge with his index finger. Ruby stared on, trying to find a moment to interject and end the arguing. Marston meanwhile, stepped back and opened up his satchel. Knowing Cass, she'd probably make good on her threat to Weiss. After some rummaging through it, he found what he was looking for, and pulled it out, holding it in front of Weiss. It was a whiskey bottle that was a filled with a golden liquid.

"What is this?"

"It's tequila, tequila that I brewed myself. But in this context, I'm using it as a peace offerin'. I think we all got started on the wrong foot. So I'm giving us a chance to start over fresh."

"Why liquor?"

"Where I come from, liquor is the basis of _many_ positive relationships," Marston said as he glanced over and winked at Cass. She frowned in response. The courier then turned back to Weiss.

"So what do you say? We're good?"

Weiss simply responded by turning away and walking off, neither accepting or denying his offer. Marston frowned as he looked at his bottle.

"I'll just take that as a yes," he said as he uncorked the bottle. The upside to this was that at least he had more tequila for himself. He raised the bottle to his lips, but suddenly felt something hit him on the head. He turned to see an annoyed Cass looking at him. Her hat was off, and was in her hand.

"The hell was that for?"

"You know what's it for," she said as she walked off. Marston simply shrugged and took a quick swig of his tequila. As he put away the bottle, he noticed the girl with the red cloak approaching him.

"Sorry about what happened."

"It's alright. You have a name, kiddo?"

"Yup! My name's Ruby Rose."

"That's a pretty name. Like I said, my name's Marston. Daniel Marston. And your friend holding me up ain't the worst welcoming that I've gotten. There was the one I got in Zion Canyon, where a bunch of White Legs killed the caravan I was travelin' with."

Ruby perked up at this as Marston went on.

"And then there was the time in the Sierre Madre, where I got bomb strapped to my neck, and-"

Marston stopped when he saw Ruby's face. She looked innocent enough, and telling her about the Sierre Madre would probably give the poor kid nightmares. Hell, even _he_ was still spooked by the memories of his time there.

"…and that's a story for another day."

Ruby frowned at this as the two began to walk, with Boone and ED-E following them.

"I should probably introduce you to my friends," Marston said to Ruby as her motioned back to Boone and ED-E.

"The gloomy one with the beret is Craig Boone. The one who threatened your friend is Rose of Sharon Cassidy. We just call her Cass for short, since no one wants to say that mouth of a name. And the flyin' toaster is ED-E."

"So, are you Huntsman, Mr. Marston," Ruby asked as they continued to walk along the forest.

"No need for the formalities, little lady. Just Call me Marston. And I guess I am, but I do doubt that the word of Red Lucy has much authority 'round these parts. Hell, I've taken up a lot of jobs. But I've always considered myself a courier. It's the job I had for the longest time."

"A courier? What's that?"

"Well, say that someone wants something delivered for them. Well, I'm the one that delivers it for them."

"So you're a mailman?"

"Yeah, but I get the package there much more quicker," Marston countered, annoyed at being referred to as a mailman. Ruby then eyed Marston's revolver on his belt.

"Oh, is that your weapon," she asked excitedly. Marston smiled as he withdrew the gun from its holster, and twirled it before grasping it in his hand. He then proudly began to talk about his gun. Ruby looked on with curiosity and interest.

"Indeed it is. It's a 5.56mm revolver, customized with a motorized crank and cylinder, and an exposed hammer. Usually holds five rounds, but I modified it to hold six. Like to carry it around since it can use armor-piercing ammo. I like to call this little beauty 'That Gun'."

Ruby blinked at the name of the revolver.

"What gun?"

"No, that's its name."

"What's its name?"

"…you know what, never mind," the courier dismissed as holstered the gun. Soon, Marston, Ruby, Boone, and ED-E had caught up with Cass and eventually Weiss. They continued to walk through the forest, with the only noises being the sounds of their footprints and the chatter coming from the courier and the huntress. Cass looked back at Marston and Ruby, with the former currently showing off Medicine Stick to the latter.

" _Looks like the boss is busy makin' friends_ ," she thought to herself as she adjusted her grip on her shotgun.

"So what's with that thing on your back," Marston asked Ruby, slinging his rifle back to his shoulder and pointed at the piece of metal on her back. Ruby smiled as she took the metal off her back and showed it to the courier.

"It's my weapon, Crescent Rose," she said as the piece of metal suddenly shifted and transformed into a _very_ large scythe. Marston let out a low whistle, impressed at the weapon.

"Pretty nifty."

"Thanks! It's also a high-velocity sniper rifle," she said as the weapon transformed into a compact looking rifle, complete with a small scope on top. Marston did a double take at the changed weapon. The Mojave Wasteland contained a lot of pieces of advanced technology, from energy weapons to robots of all shapes and sizes, but he never seen weapon that can change into another.

"Huh. That's a mighty fine weapon, you have their, Ruby."

Ruby smiled as something suddenly caught Marston's eye and he began to wander off. Ruby turned and then went after him, followed by Marston's posse and lastly Weiss. Ruby arrived first and saw the courier standing near the edge of some trees.

"What is it," she asked as Marston motioned her to follow his line of vision. A few dozen yards away was another one of those wolf creatures, just like the one that had attacked him earlier.

"Huh, it's one of 'em mutts," Marston said as he then began to search through his satchel once again. Ruby then turned to the courier.

"Actually, they're called Beowolves."

"Really? That's interestin'," Marston said as he brought out the thing he was searching for. It was a flare gun, with a simple steel finish and a black handle. The courier quickly popped the gun opened, loaded a flare into it, and snapped the gun shut.

"Time for a lil' experiment."

"Hey, wait," Ruby shouted in an attempt to stop Marston, but he ignored her as he approached the beowolf. He then let out a long whistle to get its attention. The creature turned its head as Marston began to shout insults at it.

"Hey, you stinkin' mutt! I'm right over here! What, are you as dumb as well as ugly? Come and get me!"

The beowolf snarled as it bounded towards Marston. In the blink of an eye, Marston took aim and fired the flare gun. The flare hit the beowolf in the face, which let out a brief yelp of pain. Marston's eyes widened in fear as the beowolf continued its charge, undeterred by the flare.

"Aw, shit," he muttered as he quickly unslung his rifle and took aim. He fired off two shots off at the beowolf. Both rounds hit the creature's head, making it let out a grunt as the rounds cracked the bone plating on its head. Marston then aimed at its head before a red blur passed by him, trailed by rose petals.

Before he knew it, Ruby was in front of him with her scythe out. The beowolf was now split in two and was disintegrating into the air. She turned to him as Marston lowered his rifle.

"Uh, thanks, but I had it handled."

Ruby nodded as Marston took out two .45-70 rounds from his pocket, loaded it into the rifle, and then cocked the rifle's action. He then slung his rifle on his back as he noticed Weiss and his traveling companions coming out of the brush.

"You idiot! What were you thinking," Weiss shouted at him as the courier calmly ignored her shouting. He took out the previously pocketed lighter and cigarette, and proceeded to light up. Marston let out a puff of smoke as he began his explanation to the heiress.

"There was a time where I was traveling through a place called the Divide. Tunnerlers and deathclaws lived there, beasts you don't want to mess with. However, I found out that one way to deal with them was to shoot a flare at them, which would scare them off for some time. Wanted to see if they see if they same would apply to these critters here."

"Ugh, do you know _anything_ about the Grimm," Weiss asked in an annoyed tone as Marston took another drag on his cigarette.

"Well, I know they don't like it when you shoot at 'em. Figured that out myself. 'Course, that can apply to most things that try to kill me, like that Powder Gangers, the Fiends, and the Legion. You can also count most of the critters in the Mojave."

"That reminds me, can you tell us where we exactly are, kid," Cass asked Ruby as the latter put away Crescent Rose on her back.

"Oh, you're in Vale, right near Beacon Academy."

"We never heard of either of those places," Boone said as he approached Marston, with ED-E following him. He held out his own cigarette to the courier, who lit it for him as well. The courier took a few steps forward, taking a puff on his cigarette. While he did so, a pit formed in his stomach, with one thought on his mind:

" _Just where the hell are we?_ "

Next Time - Going Nuclear

* * *

 **A/N:** And here's the second chapter of _Into the Great Wide Open_.

Yeah, not a lot of stuff happening in this chapter, except for Marston and his posse getting acquainted with both Ruby and Weiss as well as the Grimm. Don't worry, the action shall pick up soon enough, and our intrepid heroes from the Wastes will find out they're in a different world.

I have to credit DovahCourier with helping a bit with this chapter, with him suggesting a few bits for the chapter.

And I should clarify that this takes place during Vol 1. during the initiations in the Emerald Forest.

And in other news, I'll be going back to updating some of other fics such as _Fate/Zero Shinobi,_ as well as publishing a few one shots as well. I'm going to be pretty busy with my college semester, so please be patient on the updates.

Anyway, please leave a review (since I like feedback) and fave or follow if you liked the chapter. I'll see you all next update.


	3. Going Nuclear

**Chapter 3: Going Nuclear**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Fallout: New Vegas_ or _RWBY_. The former is owned by Obsidian Entertainment and Bethesda Softworks. The latter is owned by Rooster Teeth.

* * *

[Emerald Forest, Beacon Academy, Vale]

The group continued along with their walk through the Emerald forest. Weiss stood at the front with Cass and Boone behind her. At the rear were Marston, Ruby, and ED-E. Marston was currently enthralling Ruby with a story of one of his adventures. The girl listened intently while ED-E floated near the Courier.

"So, I walked into the saloon, hoping to get myself a drink and some leads. When I did, I saw the bartender Trudy arguing with some fella named Joe Cobb. Now Cobb was leader of one of the Powder Ganger gangs, and he was after a trader named Ringo. I found out that the good folk of Goodsprings were givin' Ringo sanctuary. I went to where Ringo was hidin' and had a little chat with him. Managed to convince him that the best way to deal with 'em was to take 'em head on. I left where he was at and went to talk with Sunny Smiles."

"Who's she," Ruby asked as Marston stopped to take a drag on his cigarette. He blew out some smoke before continuing.

"She's a local hunter who helped me back on my feet. Pretty nice gal. Anyway, the two us managed to rally the town together to stop the Powder Gangers. I convinced Trudy to get a lot of folk to help. Got that cheapskate Chet to give us his leather armor. Hell, managed to even get Easy Pete to lend us some of his dynamite. After all that, the Powder Gangers came to town."

Ruby listened in closely as Marston reached the climax of the tale.

"I was all ready and prepared when Joe Cobb came. I had a .357 magnum revolver that Doc Mitchell gave me, an old varmit rifle that was from Sunny Smiles, and a hatchet that I had bought from Chet. It ain't much in the terms of firepower, but I had to make due. When Cobb and his gang arrived, I decided to use diplomacy first before all the shooting started. I told him the compromise: he skips town and leave Ringo alone. Naturally, he declined, and the shooting began. My rifle jammed on my halfway through the fight, so I had to rely on my six-shooter and hatchet for the rest of the fight. It all went by so fast, so I don't recall a lot. But I know it all ended when I killed Joe Cobb."

"How did you do it?"

"I shot him," Marston replied as he puffed on his cigarette some more. What he told Ruby was only a partial truth. He first had driven his hatchet into Cobb's groin, and then had shot him in the head as he was screaming in pain. He decided to not mention that part because it was too gruesome for a kid like Ruby. Marston took his cigarette out of his mouth, holding it between his middle and index finger. He then finished up his tale.

"After the fight, I bid Ringo farewell, and he gave me some caps in gratitude. That night, there was a big celebration in the saloon. Trudy served some very nice drinks. In the mornin', I bid Goodsprings farewell and went off on my way."

"Wow, you're like a hero," Ruby exclaimed in excitement, which Marston simply chuckled at.

"Nah, I never really considered myself a hero. I think of myself as a just a man who does the right thing. Hell, as it stands, doing what's right is a rare commodity in the Mojave. That and fresh produce."

"The Mojave," Ruby asked in confusion. It sounded like it was the first time she ever heard of the place. Marston placed his cigarette back into his mouth before speaking to Ruby again.

"It's where I live. It's mostly a desert with few settlements here and there. Biggest settlement out there is New Vegas. Think of it as the Mojave's capital."

"So… it's like Vacuo," Ruby said, guessing from the context clues in the description. Marston frowned at Ruby's guess as the fears from earlier rose again. He hadn't heard of this Vacuo ever in his life. The best-case scenario was that the transporter had taken him and his friends way outside of the Wasteland and into another country on Earth. The only problem was that nobody had ever heard from one of those countries. Not since when the bombs dropped backed in 2077.

Once again, these thoughts were pushed out of his head as the group stepped out into a clearing. In front of them was what looked like the remains of a temple with a mountain behind it. Marston let out a low whistle at the sight. He'd never seen ruins as nice looking at these ones before. Usually, he'd seen things like the bombed-out ruins of Freeside or the crumbling remains of buildings in the Divide.

"Huh. So, this is what you were looking for," Marston commented as he looked over the ruins. Weiss simply shot him a look.

"Yes, and we would have gotten here sooner without you distracting us. I can kiss that A goodbye."

Marston simply ignored her comment as Cass looked at the heiress with a slightly annoyed look. She then decided to go and open her mouth.

"Tell me, princess: is it your time of the month or are you on full bitch mode 24/7?"

Weiss turned her attention to the caravan boss and glared at her. Marston let out a sigh and yet again got between the two before things turned south.

"Look, you're going to have to forgive Cass. She's the type to speak her mind. And if you plan on doin' violence, do it against those Grimm critters rather than my friends. Do we have an understanding, Miss…"

Marston stopped for a moment and then racked his brain. He then realized something.

"Ah, just remembered: I never did get your name, and didn't get mine. Probably had to do with you holding me up with that sword of yours and then walkin' off. Anyway, like I said to Bright Eyes earlier, my name is Daniel Marston. And you are?"

Weiss let out a sigh as answered Marston's question.

"If you must know, I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

"So… your family has a big monopoly on dirt," Cass concluded as she rested her shotgun on her shoulders. Marston then gave in his two cents.

"If it's dirt that's rich in nutrients, then I could see it sellin'. Hell, my Pa could have used dirt like that when growing crops. We had to use brahmin shit as fertilizer to make our crops grow."

Weiss stared at the two in bafflement, as if they had grown a second head. Ruby, meanwhile, approached the courier as he dabbed some ash off his cigarette. Marston looked down at her and gave a friendly smile.

"What's on your mind, kiddo?"

"You know those people you brought up after I killed the Beowolf? I've never heard of them," Ruby said as she nervously looked down at her feet. The only reason she didn't bring it up earlier was because she was still in shock at finding a mysterious man in the forest. Therefore, questioning him was at the back of her mind. Marston placed his cigarette back in before explaining things to the scythe wielder.

"Well, let me start with the Powder Gangers, Bright Eyes. They were a chain gang escaped from the NCR. Get their name 'cause they like to use dynamite and powder charges. The Fiends are a bunch of raiders that plague New Vegas. Their brains are all fucked up because of the chems that they take. Last, but not least, there's Caesar's Legion. They're a bunch of slavers that like to dress up like the Romans. They've had a bone to pick with the NCR for the longest time. They ain't fighting anymore. I killed two of their most important people, and they all headed back east to like their wounds. Does any of that jog your memory, kiddo?"

"It doesn't," Ruby said, who now looked more lost than ever. Weiss then approached him, and held out her rapier in front of her. Marston's hand slowly went for That Gun, in case if she was going to do anything.

"And if you must know, _this_ is what Dust is," the heiress said as she activated a mechanism on the sword. One of the red cartridges in the sword's chamber activated, and the sword's blade suddenly glowed red. Both Marston and Cass dropped their jaws, with the former's half-finished cigarette falling to the forest floor. Boone simply lowered his sunglasses while ED-E let out a beep of concern. The Courier gathered his bearings first as he addressed the two girls.

"Will you excuse us for a moment? We need to have a private chat," Marston said quickly as he grabbed Cass and Boone's arms and dragged them off to the ruins, with ED-E following his human companions. The group settled over near one of the ruins, specifically on one of the steps. Marston let out a nervous sigh as he addressed his companions.

"Alright… I think I've figured it out. We're not in the Wastes anymore. I think we're in some who new world."

"What was your first guess, boss: the furry deathclaw or that dust junk that Queen Bitch used," Cass said sarcastically. Marston simply shot her an annoyed look before continuing.

"That device we discovered in that bunker? I think it was some sort of transporter that takes you to another world. Hell, I had a nagging feeling about that ever since we got here, 'cause of the trees and Bright Eyes mentioning some place called Vacuo. But Princess showing us that dust sealed the deal for me. Hell, between that and those Grimm we've encounter, it all seems like something out of science fiction."

"…we come from a post-apocalyptic wasteland, boss."

"Well, my point still stands," Marston said as Boone, who had been his usual quiet self, decided to speak up.

"I've just found further proof to your theory, Marston. Just look over at the horizon."

Marston, Boone, and ED-E all looked towards where Boone was pointing at. In the distance, over past the mountain, was the faint outline of a city. Marston could barely make out anything in the distance, but one thing he could tell was the fact it had more buildings than New Vegas did. The courier then took his hat off, wiped the sweat off his brow, and placed his hat back on before commenting.

"Huh. That's interestin'. Anyway, from what I know, we're currently stuck here. I think our best bet is to meet up with Beacon's schoolmaster, and make arrangements to stay here. After that, we'll try to find some work 'round here."

ED-E suddenly let out a few beeps, which Marston frowned at.

"No ED-E, we're not going to tell these kids we're from another world. They'd think we're nuts, and I don't think they have the tech that allows people to jump worlds."

"So, what do we do tell 'em, boss?"

"Bright Eyes compared the Mojave to this Vacuo place. We'll just pretend we're from some weird part of it. Let's just hope they buy the story."

"Well, you best start practicin', 'cause more kids are coming," Cass said as pointed back towards the forest. Marston turned and saw that a few more people had emerged from the forest. The one that first caught Marston's eyes was a tall blond girl talking to Ruby. The girl had lilac colored eyes and golden blonde curly hair that went down to her waist. She wore an odd-looking tan get up. It consisted of a tan, short-sleeved jacket with a yellow top, an orange scarf, fingerless gloves, black shorts with some sort of tan wrap around. She also had what looked like a purple bandana wrapped around her right thigh, and completed off with brown knee high boots. On her arms was what appeared to be her weapon. It was a pair of yellow gauntlets that looked like it fired shotgun shells. It frankly reminded the Courier of the Ballistic Fist that he'd seen at Gun Runners a couple of times.

Next to the blond girl was a black haired one. She had golden eyes with black hair, with a bow on top of her head. She also wore an odd looking black and white ensemble that the courier had a hard time describing. On her back was what appeared to be a short sword of some sort.

Marston's eyes turned over to the next group of people. The first person he spotted was a blonde boy who looked, to put it kindly, unimpressive. He had blonde hair and blue, and looked rather scrawny. He wore a black hoodie with jeans and tennis shoes, and had an armor chest piece over said hoodie. He wielded a simple sword and shield. Next to him was a tall, redheaded girl with green eyes. Her hair was put up in a ponytail, and on her head, was a golden tiara. She wore a cuirass and pieces of armor that reminded Marston on the Romans. On her back was a circular shield and a red sword.

Marston then looked at the last two people of the group. The first was a ginger-haired girl with cerulean colored eyes that seemed to be filled with energy. She wore a white top with armor parts that had a heart cutout on the chest, a pink skirt, and white and pink tennis shoes. In her hands was a massive war hammer that had a hole in the blunt end of the hammer. Next to her was an Asian-looking boy with purple eyes and a purple streak in his hair. He wore a green robe-like shirt with white pants. In his hands were a pair of green colored machine pistols that had a pair of green curved blades underneath the barrels.

In Marston's opinion, they were all a colorful bunch. He then turned back to his companions.

"Well, let's go and get acquainted, shall we?"

He got off the ruins and walked forward, Boone, Cass, and ED-E following soon after. The blond girl noticed him as he approached.

"So, this is your new friend, Rubes," the girl asked Ruby as Marston stopped in his tracks.

"Yup! This is Daniel Marston, and he's a mailman!"

"I told you I was a courier, Bright Eyes. There's a difference y'know," Marston said as he sized up the group. He then jabbed as thumb back at his companions.

"And for those of you, wonderin', the three back there are Rose of Sharon Cassidy, Craig Boone, and ED-E. Now, I know who two of you are, but the rest of you are a mystery. So, if you would be so kind, can I have some names?"

"Sure! I'm Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's sister," the now named Yang greeted as extended her hand, which the courier shook with a smile.

"Nice meetin' ya. I know a friend of mine that you'd get along with," Marston replied as he moved onto the black-haired girl.

"Blake Belladona," she said simply as he the courier replied with a nod. He then moved on to the next four kids, looking at the scrawny blonde.

"I-I'm Jaune Arc," he replied nervously as Marston let out a chuckle.

"What's the matter, Galahad? I ain't gonna bite," the courier said as he gave the boy a friendly pat on the back. This knocked Jaune back a bit as Marston moved on to the redheaded girl.

"Pyrrha Nikos," she said politely, greeting with a bow. Marston nodded as he looked at the last two of the group. The ginger girl spoke up first, her voice also full of energy.

"I'm Nora Valkyrie, and this is Lie Ren. Are you a cowboy?"

"Hmm, I guess I am. I don't have no horse, but I got the hat and the guns. Those fill the requirements, don't they?"

"You're a cowboy in my book, boss," Cass said as she stood next to the courier. She took out a hip flask from the inside of her jacket and began to unscrew the cap. Pyrrha frowned at this.

"Is that really necessary?"

"Hey, it's five o'clock somewhere, sweetheart," the caravan boss replied as she took a quick sip from the flask. Marston looked back at the ruins before looking back at the gathered group of kids.

"So, from what I've gathered from Ruby, y'all suppose to find one of these relic things and bring it back to the school? Sounds pretty similar to my job description."

"Mr. Marston, what are you exactly doing here," Pyrrha asked politely as the Courier replied.

"Well, I was on a job, with my friends, and I guess you can say we took a wrong turn. But I can explain to y'all later. Let me help you out for a bit."

Marston then walked back to the ruins, with everyone else following him. He then inspected the items on the pedestals. One was a in the shape of a castle top while the other one had the head of a horse.

"These look familiar. Don't they use 'em in that game? Y'know, the one where you move pieces across the board try to capture the other guy's pieces? The name starts with a 'c'?"

"You mean chess," Blake said as Marston snapped his fingers before turning around and pointing at Blake.

"That's the name! Never did play the game myself. Personally, I'm a fan of poker," he said as he took out his canteen and took a drink of it. Nora, meanwhile, took one of the castle pieces and balanced it on her head, dancing around joyfully.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle," she sang as both Boone and Ren looked on impassively.

"You deal with her often," he asked the younger man while he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Yes."

Suddenly, a trembling sound was heard throughout the forest. Everyone suddenly brought out their weapons, Boone and Cass aiming their weapons around while Marston unslung Medicine Stick and aimed it towards the forest.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Boone said under his breath as he slowly moved his finger towards the trigger. The trembling was soon answered as a giant scorpion Grimm emerged from the trees. The creature was slightly larger than the radscorpion queen Marston encountered in Camp Searchlight. Like its brethren, it was black with white armor plating covering its body, complete with beady red eyes. What stood out was the creature's stinger, which was a golden color.

" _Well, this seems familiar,_ " Marston thought to himself as he aimed his rifle. However, he suddenly decided against it and slung it on his shoulder. He'd figure that his rifle would just annoy the creature. He needed more firepower. With that, he turned towards ED-E.

"ED-E, bring out the bitch," he said as the robot replied with a beep. A flash of light then emitted from the robot's radar, and a weapon then dropped to the ground in front of it. It was some sort of shoulder-mounted catapult, its shape like a missile launcher. Said weapon had a transparent blast shield, a light blue body, and a transparent plastic bed that held the payload. Said payload was a bomb. Marston then picked up the weapon, and got down on one knee, taking aim.

"EVERYBODY STAND CLEAR," he shouted as aimed at the approaching Grimm. He placed his finger on the trigger and shouted at the beast.

"LEMME INTRODCUE YOU TO THE WONDERS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONRY!"

With that, he pulled the trigger and the bomb fired, soaring in an arc. It scored a direct hit on the Grimm. The exploded and went up in a huge mushroom cloud, and the Grimm let out a screech as it died. Marston got up and lowered the weapon as he looked upon his handiwork. Meanwhile, Ruby and Nora looked at the weapon in appreciation. Ruby had a look of awe in her eyes while Nora was practically salivating over it. Both rushed up over towards the courier, who had placed the weapon on the ground.

"What weapon is that," Ruby asked excitedly as the courier looked down at her.

"It's a Fat Man, Bright Eyes. It's a shoulder-mounted catapult that launches nuclear bombs. This here is a special version I picked up called Esther. She's handy in certain situations, but has her drawbacks. She weighs a ton, only has one shot to it, and carrying it for too long gives me a damn hernia."

"What!? Don't complain about it! Blow up more things with it," Nora said excitedly as she grabbed the courier by the coat collars and shook him. Marston quickly recovered before storing the weapon away on his Pip Boy.

"Well, if that's all, let's head on back to this school of your-"

Marston was interrupted when he heard a screech that echoed through the air. He searched for the source of the sound before something suddenly swooped past the group. Marston looked up at the newcomer. It resembled a huge, giant bird, like a crow or a raptor. It has a bone-like mask on its red eyes. The bird Grimm let out another screech, which reverberated through the air. Cass took out her flask again and took another swig of its contents. Boone tightened the grip on his marksmen carbine. Lastly, Marston summed up his reaction in a single phrase.

"Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph."

Next Time - A Rock and a Hard Place

* * *

 **A/N:** Welcome to the latest chapter of _Into the Great Wide Open_.

I've recently made a discovery while writing this chapter: Cass is a really fun character to write. She'll probably have some of the best lines in this fic (and, in my opinion, already has some good ones in this chapter alone). It's sort of like how Sandor "The Hound" Clegane has the best lines on _Game of Thrones_.

I'd also like to give shout-out to The Crimson Commando. In his review of the last chapter, he guessed that _Firefly's_ Malcolm Reynolds served as a inspiration for Marston. In that case, he'd be correct. Basically, the influence map for Marston can be summed up as the following: Malcolm Reynolds (badass long coat, strong moral sense, and loyalty to his crew), Norman Reedus (like I said in the first chapter, physical appearance is based on Reedus), _Metal Gear Solid's_ Revolver Ocelot (the gun-slinging skills, which Marston will demonstrate in later chapters), _Red Dead Redemption_ 's John Marston (namesake), and Chris Pratt's take on Star Lord (some of his humor).

And I've you've noticed, Marston has currently come up with nicknames for Ruby, Weiss, and Jaune. A lot of other characters in the fic will be receiving their own nicknames as it goes (I have a couple of good ones in store).

I'd have to give my friend and beta Rocker1600 a shoutout as well. He suggested that Marston has Esther in his arsenal. I took the suggestion to heart, and the idea of Marston using it on a Deathstalker stuck in my head.

And yes, the chapter title is a reference to the Miracle of Sound song of the same name. The chapter also has a _Firefly_ reference in it (if you need a hint to where it is, it pops up in Marston's conversation with Cass, Boone, and ED-E about their dilemma).

Anyway, please leave a review (since I appreciate feedback), and don't forget to fave and follow. I'll see you all next update (which won't be for awhile since I'm pretty busy as of the moment).


	4. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

**Chapter 4: Between a Rock and a Hard Place**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Fallout New Vegas_ or _RWBY_. The former is owned by Bethesda Softworks and Obsidian Entertainment while the latter is owned by Rooster Teeth. **  
**

* * *

[Emerald Forest, Beacon Academy, Vale]

The bird Grimm let out another screech as it soared through the air. Cass, meanwhile, let out a sigh of satisfaction as she stopped drinking from her flask. She then held out it in front of the rest of the group.

"Anyway, else want a bit of liquid courage?"

"There's a time and place for everything, Cassidy, and this is neither one of them," Boone said curtly as he aimed his marksmen carbine at the flying bird. He fired off two shots from the rifle at the bird, but the Grimm wasn't even effected by it, and it didn't even seem to notice that it got shot at. Boone grunted in frustration as he lowered his weapon.

"Hey, look at the bright side: at least we'll die together," Yang said as Marston simply smirked at her response. The courier had quickly recovered from the shock of seeing the giant flying Grimm, and seemed to have gotten his confidence back.

"Oh, we aren't gonna die. Hell, I've survived stuff that should have killed me before. I've never encountered any giant flyers before, but I'd it be best to try my tried and true strategy."

"And that would be," Blake asked as Marston unslung Medicine Stick and cocked the action.

"Shootin' it."

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose at the courier's response as Marston rushed out with his rifle in hand. He took aim with the rifle and followed the path of the bird Grimm. He then pulled the trigger and worked the action in rapid succession until all seven rounds of the rifle were fired. _That_ definitely got the bird's attention as it peered down at the human. It let out a screech as it retaliated against the courier. With a flap of its wings, it fired off a volley of what looked like sharp, black feathers. Marston's eyes widened as he quickly stumbled back to avoid being hit by the feathers. He fell to the ground as the projectiles hit, and Medicine Stick had fallen out of reach. The bird let out another volley at the courier, who tried to get up and run. Suddenly, he felt something grab his arm and dragged him away before the feathers could skewer him. He looked up at his savior, which turned out to be Ruby.

"Thanks, but don't make you savin' me into a habit, Bright Eyes," Marston said as his looked back at the girl. His eyes then followed to her cloak, and noticed that one of the bird's feathers had stabbed Ruby's cloak, pinning it to the ground.

Ruby began to struggle to free her cloak from the feather. The bird Grimm screeched as it focused on its two targets. Marston, meanwhile, took his hatchet from his belt and tried to break the feather, but the blade couldn't cut through it. The courier then traded his hatchet for his knife as he began to cut the cloak area around the feather. However, as he was doing this, the Nevermore fired another volley of feathers at the two. Marston quickly stopped cutting the cloak and shielded Ruby with his body, closing his eyes before the inevitable happened.

Several seconds passed and the courier opened his eyes, looking around in confusion. He then noticed that they were protected from the feathers by an ice dome, courtesy of one Weiss Schnee. The heiress looked down as Marston let out a chuckle and sheathed his knife.

"Hm, I knew you had a good side to you, Princess," he said as he got up.

"Just help me free her," Weiss said as the two of them quickly removed the feather from Ruby's cloak. Ruby gave a nod of approval as the three of them looked up at the bird Grimm, which was now circling the group. Marston then noticed his rifle on the ground and went to retrieve it, while Yang, Blake, Cass, Boone, and ED-E went up to the group.

"Ruby, are you alright," Yang asked with worry in her voice.

"I am. I had to go and save Marston before he got killed," Ruby said as Cass and Boone walked other to Marston. The courier was currently reloading Medicine Stick.

"Alright, boss, do you have any ideas on how to defeat this overgrown buzzard besides shooting it," Cass said as Marston loaded the last round into his rifle and worked the action.

"I could always bring Red Glare and use it, but I have a feeling that it'll just piss it off more."

"Why don't use that Fat Man thingie from before on the Nevermore," Ruby suggested, but Marston simply shook his head at the suggestion.

"Won't work. Esther isn't like a rocket launcher, it launches bombs in an arc like a catapult. Besides that, it doesn't have the range to hit the bird while it's in the air. You got any ideas cookin' up in your head, kiddo?"

"I think I have one," Ruby said as Cass immediately butted in.

"Good, then start usin' it, kid. You have way more experience with these Grimm than we do. If you need us to back you up, then do it. You have more than enough hands to help you here. There's twelve of us, and only one bird. Besides, there's no way that this can possibly get worse, right?"

A roar was suddenly heard echoing through the forest, and everyone turned their attention to the forest.

"Things are about to get worse," Boone commented as he aimed his marksmen carbine at the forest outline.

"Me and my big mouth," Cass said under her breath as she racked a fresh round into the chamber of her shotgun. Marston held up Medicine Stick with one hand as he turned back to the girls.

"You gals go do whatever you need to do, we'll hold off these critters long enough to enact that plan of yours."

None of the girls verbally responded to the courier, but ran off to enact Ruby's plan. Marston, meanwhile, turned towards ED-E.

"I'm going to need some satchel charges, ED-E."

The eyebot let out a long beep before it's radar let out a bright flash of light. On the ground were five small canvas bags that had a black band wrapped horizontally around it. A few wires were going into it, and it a glowing red light was in the center of it. Marston picked up each of the satchel charges, armed them, and threw them to the edge of the Emerald Forest. Each satchel charge was about five feet apart from each other. Marston then stood next to his companions, and readied his rifle. The courier turned his head and noticed Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren running up towards.

"Did Bright Eyes tell you what we're doing," Marston asked as he placed the stock of Medicine Stick against his shoulder.

"She did," Jaune said as Pyrrha took over.

"We're going to help you hold off whatever's coming, Mr. Marston."

"First, drop the formalities, Amazon. I never liked being called a mister. Second, I planted some explosives at the edge of the forest. Whatever's comin' through will be in for a nasty surprise."

"Oh, what kind," Nora asked gleefully as Marston took aim at the forest.

"Nothin' fancy. Just some satchel charges. Simple yet effective. Look, get ready, 'cause they're comin'."

The rest team did as Marston told. Jaune readied his sword and shield, while Pyrrha took out her own. Marston did a double take as Pyrrha's sword shifted and changed into a javelin-esque weapon. Nora hefted up her enormous war hammer while Ren took out his two machine pistols.

The growling suddenly got louder as four Beowolves emerged from the forest. However, they soon contacted the satchel charges on the ground, and they all went off. The beasts went out a screech as the explosives went off, killing two of the Beowolves. The Mojave group then opened fire on the other two beowolves. Marston, Boone, and Cass fired off round after round from their guns while ED-E let out quick shots of plasma. The first beowolf died from the multiple gunshots and bolts of plasma. The second beowolf, however, snarled and charged forward. It was soon killed when Pyrrha threw her javelin and the impaled it through the head. Pyrrha then did something that made the javelin retract out from the dying creature's head and returned to her hands.

Marston quickly returned Medicine Stick to his Pip Boy. While the rifle had plenty of firepower in it, it took some time to reload. He needed something that could be reloaded quickly and had plenty of firepower to it. He put in a few more commands into his Pip Boy and then a new weapon appeared in his hands. It was a .45 caliber submachine gun, the kind that was used by the old-world armies of the United States. It had two significant modifications to it. The stick magazine had been replaced with a drum magazine, increasing the ammunition capacity from twenty rounds to fifty rounds. Secondly, on the end of the barrel was a compensator, decreasing the spread of the weapon.

Marston quickly cocked the bolt on the weapon as more Beowolves emerged out of the forest. The courier took aim with the weapon and opened fire, shooting out in controlled bursts. Meanwhile, Cass killed off another beowolf by blasting it in the head with another shotgun blast. She pumped out the empty shell from the shotgun and started to reload it. However, another Beowolf charged her and knocked her to the ground. Her shotgun, Dinner Bell, was out of her reach and her knapsack was now besides her. The beowolf then pounced on her, and Cass reacted quickly. She reached into her knapsack's side pocket, where she keot another shotgun, and pulled it out. Unlike Dinner Bell, this one was a sawn off double barrel shotgun. It was heavily worn down with some rusting, and stenciled on the grip in faded white paint were the words "Big Boomer". Cass then stuck the shotgun into the beast's mouth.

"EAT THIS," she shouted as she pulled the trigger and blew off the back of the beowolf's head. The creature's corpse then collapsed on the top of Cass, trapping her underneath. The caravan boss struggled to get out before another beowolf focused its attention on her.

"Aw, shit," Cass muttered as struggled further to get herself free. Just as the beowolf was in striking distance off, Nora suddenly appeared out right besides it. With a sound of cheerful glee, she hit the beast with a swing of her hammer, sending it flying off into the distance. Nora then noticed Cass, who had freed herself from the now dissolving Grimm corpse.

"Thanks for the save," Cass commented as she loaded a fresh set of shells into Big Boomer, and placed it back on her knapsack. She then went and picked up Dinner Bell, loaded it up with slug rounds, and went back into fending off the Grimm.

Boone, meanwhile, loaded a new magazine into his carbine, after killing off another one of the beowolves. He pulled back the bolt before suddenly heard a terrified shriek coming from some ways over. He turned his attention that that scrawny kid, Jaune, had been knocked to the ground by a beowolf. The sniper walked towards, the creature, firing off round after round from his carbine. The beast then collapsed to the ground as Boone got near it. For extra measure, Boone pulled out his 10mm pistol and fired off two rounds into the beowolf's skull. Said pistol had been modified with a black rubber grip, a compensator on the barrel, and a reflex sight mounted on the slide. Boone holstered his sidearm before helping Jaune up.

"On your feet, soldier," he said as he pulled the boy up heading off to kill another Beowolf.

Marston meanwhile, fired off the last remaining rounds in his submachine gun's magazine, giving the coup de grace to another of the Grimm. He then took out a new magazine to reload it. However, he was interrupted when he heard the loud sounds of shotgun fire. He looked upwards to see Yang standing in the mouth of the Nevermore, firing off blasts from her shot gauntlet into the bird's throat.

"I! HOPE! YOU'RE! HUN!GRY!" she shouted between firing shots down its throat. Marston smiled as he loaded up a new magazine into the submachine gun and pulled back on the bolt. He then fired another burst of rounds into another Beowolf. The beast then turned its attention to the courier and began to charge. Marston slung his submachine gun on his back, pressed a button on his Pip Boy, and another weapon appeared in his hand. It was a makeshift weapon, being a length of pipe with two railway spikes secured to it by a bungee cord and an electrical cable. The weapon was decorated with beads, feathers, and paint. This weapon was a tomahawk, and Marston had picked up a good amount of these during his time spent in the Zion Canyon. With breakneck speed, Marston threw the weapon at the Beowolf, and it landed right in the creature's eye. The beast out a screech as the sudden impact broke its fall and stumbled and crashed in front of the courier. Marston then pulled out That Gun with quick speed and fired off three rounds into the beast's head, ending its life.

"Well, this is goin' better than I thought it would," the courier commented as he holstered his revolver with a twirl. He then turned his attention to the forest, and his expression than changed into those of disbelieving shock.

"Oh, fuck me."

Three, large, bear-like Grimm then ran out of the forest. They reminded the courier of the Yao Guai that he'd encounter in Zion. However, these seemed to be much slower than the Yao Guai. Cass ran up to the courier, and aimed her shotgun at the Grimm.

"Looks like shit's now fucked fifty ways sideways," she said as fired off a slug at one of the bears. The slug hit one of the Grimm on the muzzle, catching its attention at Cass. Marston let off a frustrated groan as he retrieved another item from his Pip Boy. It was what looked like a fire extinguisher with most of its paint chipped off, and attached to one end was a sensor module. Marston then pressed a switch on the module before whistling towards Nora. The girl then looked over at the courier.

"You up for a game of baseball," he asked as he held up the gas bomb. Nora immediately got what he was saying, and replied with a grin. Marston then threw the gas bomb up into the area and Nora jumped along with it. As soon as the two were near each other. Nora slammed her hammer down on the bomb, which flew right to where the bear Grimm were. Soon, all three of the bears went up in flames, and some of the trees near the forest were caught on fire. The bears screeched in terror as the flames consumed them and they all perished into nothingness.

Marston smirked at the bear's demise before looking over to where the mountain was. The Nevermore had been pinned to the mountain cliff using ice. The girls had made a giant makeshift slingshot. Blake and Yang were holding a long black ribbon between a pair of pillars. Ruby sevred as the ammunition for the slingshot, with Weiss holding her in place with some sort of snowflake-esque glyph.

"So that's her plan. Seems crazy enough to work" he commented as he returned his submachine gun into his Pipboy. Upon Ruby's command, the glyph holding her in place turned red, and launched the girl forward. Ruby then fired Crescent Rose into the ground, propelling her forward further until she was near the Nevermore. She slammed the scythe's blade at the Nevermore's neck, and dragged it down with her down the cliff. More of glyphs formed underneath her as she fell with the Grimm, her velocity increasing as she fired the rifle portion of her scythe. Both reached the ground, and Ruby fired Crescent Rose one last time, decapitating the bird and finishing it off. She then landed near the ruins, and Marston let off a round of applause.

"Whoo! Wonderful showing, Bright Eyes! Very impressive," he said excitedly, impressed that a kid almost half his age managed to come up with and carry out a plan to kill the Grimm. Ruby, meanwhile, sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," she said as Marston took out yet another cigarette and lit up. ED-E then appeared next to the courier and let out another beep.

"You aren't my doctor, you flying toaster," he muttered as he blew out a puff of smoke. He placed his cigarette back in his mouth before looking back at Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang.

"I dunno about you, but I think we should all get the hell out of here."

* * *

[Beacon Academy, Vale]

 _Some Time Later…_

Marston and his companions walked along with the rest of the teens, with them hanging out near the back. The courier's eyes widened in wonder as he saw the building that they were approaching. However, as he got closer, he noticed that it wasn't just one building, but several buildings. It all reminded him of a castle one would see in a story book.

As the group approached the entrance to the main building the courier, Marston noticed to people standing off to the side. The first person was a man with silver hair. He looked a bit youthful, but gave off a vibe that he was much older. Perched on his nose was a pair of circular sunglasses. The man had a thing for green, wearing what looked like a green scarf, a dark green suit with a dark green waistcoat. In one hand was a fancy, silver topped cane while in the other one was a coffee mug. Marston guessed that this was this Ozpin person that Ruby has told him about. Next to Ozpin was a stern looking woman. She had green eyes and blonde hair that was kept up in a bun, and on her nose were a pair of glasses. She had on a white blouse that exposed a bit of cleavage, a black pencil skirt, knee high boots, and a black cape with purple lining.

The rest of the teens went on into the main building while Marston and his friends approached Ozpin and the blonde.

"Hm, I don't believe I've seen you before," the headmaster commented as Marston smirked.

"Observant, ain'tcha. You this Ozpin that people talk about?"

"I am," Ozpin replied as the courier blew out another puff of smoke from his cigarette.

"Well, my friends and I need to have a lil' chat with ya, teach."

Next Time - Coffee & Cigarettes

* * *

 **A/N:** And here's another chapter of _Into the Great Wide Open_.

And here we have our first action oriented chapter. The last two chapters had bits of action in them, but this was the first full action oriented chapter.

And I loved writing the original part of this chapter, Marston's group and JNPR fighting off a horde of Grimm. I had this planned out since Marston blew up the Deathstalker in the last chapter. I didn't focus much on Team RWBY fighting the Nevermore since it more or less plays out the same way as in canon.

And for those you that are wondering, Marston and his posse won't be fighting the Grimm in this fic. They're pretty much in over their heads when it comes to the Grimm. They may have an arsenal with them that could take on a small army, but they've only dealt with Beowolves and Ursa (which are more or less the equivalents of low levels enemies you kill in an RPG for easy experience points). However, our intrepid heroes will have a part to play in the story. Namely, serving as a spanner in the work for a certain villain's plans. But that'll come a bit later.

Anyway, please drop a review (since I really appreciate feedback) and don't forgot to fave or follow. I'll see you all next update (which won't be for awhile because of upcoming finals).


	5. Coffee and Cigarettes

**Into the Great Wide Open Chapter 5: Coffee and Cigarettes**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Fallout: New Vegas_ or _RWBY_. The former is owned by Bethesda Softworks and Obsidian Entertainment while the latter is owned by Rooster Teeth.

* * *

[Amphitheater, Beacon Academy, Vale]

Marston, ED-E, Cass, and Boone stood in the back of an amphitheater, where teams were being inducted into the academy. The courier was leaning against a wall, his arms crossed and one of his legs propped up. He then looked up at the huge screen that was right above the stage. According to the screen, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were now a part of Team RWBY, with Ruby as the leader. Marston blinked at the team name and then tilted his head, trying to make heads and tails of it. He then looked over to his three companions.

"How the hell you think you pronounce that name? Ree-wooby? Rwa-by?"

"I think it's pronounced 'Ruby', boss, like the kid's name," Cass guessed as Marston simply let out a chuckle. Cass raised an eyebrow at this.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothin'. Just thought its funny how the team name gets formed from those kid's initials. Hell, I bet I can come up with a name with our initials."

"Really?"

"Yup. I'd guess we'd be called MERC. I, of course, would be the 'm'. ED-E would be the 'e'. Cass, your first name would fill out the 'r" of the name. And last, but certainly not least, Boone's first name would be the 'c' of the name."

"Hm, impressive," Cass said as ED-E let out a beep in agreement. Marston then suddenly put a few commands into his PipBoy and two items materialized in his hands. The first was a small, white rectangular box that had the words "Fancy Lad Snack Cakes" written on it in red. The second was an amber-colored bottle. On its label was a drawing of a sunset with the words "Sunset Sarsaparilla" written underneath it. Boone frowned and raised an eyebrow at this as Marston began to open the box while holding the bottle underneath his armpit.

"You're really doing this here of all places?"

"Hey, killin' things works up an appetite," the courier defended as he opened the box. He then took out what looked like a small, chocolate cupcake that was topped with powdered sugar. The courier popped the cake into his mouth, chewing it and savoring the chocolate taste and the creme filling. He then swallowed it before speaking again.

"I'm surprised these things still stay fresh after two hundred years," he said as he took out the second cake and ate it as well. He flatten the now empty box and placed it in his satchel, before taking the bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla and opening it. He took a swig of it before he noticed both Ozpin and his assistant approach him. The courier lowered his drink as he made eye contact with the headmaster. Opine finally broke the silence between the two.

"Now then, you said your name was Daniel Marston, correct?"

"Yup, the one and only."

"Very well. Now that the initiation ceremony is over, would you and your companions please follow me to my office? We have much to discuss."

"That's am understatement," Cass muttered as the courier and his companions followed Ozpin and his assistant out of the amphitheater They walked across the school courtyard until they arrived in front of what looked like a very large clock tower. Ozpin ushered the group inside of an elevator, and pressed a button to the top floor. Marston waited patiently for the elevator to reach its destination, standing between Boone and Ozpin's assistant. He suddenly felt the urge to smoke, so he brought out a cigarette from the inside of his duster. As soon as he brought out his lighter, however, he felt the cigarette suddenly get smacked out of his mouth. He looked up to see Ozpin's assistant glaring at him, holding a riding crop on her hand.

"I should remind you, Mr. Marston, that _this_ is a school, and we do not tolerate your disgusting habit."

The courier lowered the brim of his hat over his eyes before answering her question.

"Apologies, it's a force of habit, miss…?"

"Glynda Goodwitch."

"Right," Marston said as he picked up the discarded cigarette off the ground. He decided not argue with Glynda about his smoking habit, remembering a piece of advice his father gave him: there are two ways to argue with a woman, and neither of them work.

With a ding, the elevator arrived at their destination and the group stepped out. The floor they arrived at was what looked like a very large office. There was a very large window that over the school in the front of the room. The only furniture in the room was a glass desk with a few metal chairs in front of it. However, there was one thing that stood out to Marston. There were gears above the ceiling, separated by glass, constantly whirling and tick-tick-ticking away. The courier and his companions stepped forward, but was stopped when he heard Ozpin clear his throat. The group then turned around to see Ozpin and Glynda standing next to what appeared to be a locker.

"Before we begin, would you please leave your weapons here?"

"What, you don't trust us, teach?"

"I'd just prefer to be on the safe side, Mr. Marston."

"Fair enough," Marston said as he pulled That Gun and his knife off of his belt and placed it in the locker. Cass followed next, putting away her shotgun, Dinner Bell, her .44 revolver, and her combat knife in it. Boone went last, placing his marksmen carbine, 10mm pistol, and machete in the locker. Cass and Boone went over to the chairs, but before Marston and ED-E could go over, Ozpin stopped him again.

" _All_ of your weapons, Mr. Marston."

"Huh. You're perceptive, ain'tcha."

Marston moved his hands behind his duster, and lifted it up. On the right side of his backside, kept between the belt band and pants, were three throwing knives that had a handle wrapped in red ribbon. The courier quickly withdrew the knives and placed them in the locker. Marston then removed a pistol kept in his waistband. Said pistol was a heavily customized Colt 1911. It was compact in size, with a skeletonized hammer and trigger and a snakeskin pattern grip. Etched on both sides of the slide was a text in Greek. Marston quickly turned the safety off and ejected the magazine before placing it in the locker. He then placed his left foot against the wall and pulled up the pant leg. He pulled out a small knife from his boot, placed it in the locker, and then went over to the chairs, with ED-E following him. He took a seat as Ozpin sat down at his desk with Glynda standing besides him.

"Now the, where shall we begin," Ozpin said rhetorically as Marston shifted in his chair, trying to get comfortable. As soon as he got comfortable, he answered the headmaster's question.

"Well, I guess you want to know where we're from. Well, you probably wouldn't believe this, but we ain't even from this Remnant place."

"What if I told you that I did believe you, Mr. Marston?"

The courier did a double take at Ozpin's response. The headmaster stared at the courier stoically as Glynda began to explain things.

"Indeed, we saw your arrival when we were surveying the student's initiation," she said as she played around with a device that looked like a pane of glass. She then showed the device to the group, where a video played on it. It showed footage of the Marston and his companions arriving in the forest after a large flash of white-blue light. It then went on to show the group's encounter with the Beowolf, Marston healing his leg injury, then bringing out his hatchet and rifle, and finally the group leaving. Marston looked on interest at the footage before looking at Ozpin.

"You said that you got this from surveillance footage, right?"

"Correct. Like Miss Goodwitch said, we caught sight of you during the student's initiation," Ozpin replied as Marston took out a cigarette and his lighter. Glynda glared at him with his riding crop. Marston gave her a look before turning his attention to Ozpin.

"You don't mind if I smoke, do ya? It's not like I'm doin' it on campus or anything like that?"

"Go ahead," he answered as Marston lit up and blew out a puff of smoke, the cigarette now being in the corner of his mouth.

"So you I guess you want to know what kind of world we come from, teach? We we come from-"

"A world ravaged by fire and radiation, caused by the destructive nature man," Ozpin said, interrupting the courier. Marston's jaw dropped in surprise, letting his cigarette drop to the floor. Boone lowered his sunglasses at this, his face remaining stoic and impassive as usual, but his eyes held a bit of surprise. Cass simply leaned back in her chair and raised her eyebrow at Ozpin's statement.

"What are you, some sort of psychic," she asked as Marston picked his cigarette off the ground and placed it in his mouth. Ozpin let off a chuckle as he answered Cass's question.

"I am not, Miss Cassidy, but let's just say that you aren't the first person from the Wastelands to come to Remnant."

Marston took a drag on his cigarette before he answered Ozpin.

"Well, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention. Go on, tell us who this other visitor was."

"Very well," Ozpin said as he cleared his throat before beginning his tale.

"Long ago, there lived a King that ruled the country of Vale. He was wise and benevolent, and his people loved him for it. However, he was threaten with war by the Kingdoms of Mistral and Mantle when his Kingdom expanded into their territory. The King wanted to avoid conflict with the kingdoms, but when it became inevitable, he decided to fight. However, before he waged his war against the kingdoms, he met a man. The man was called the Vault Dweller, for he had lived in an underground vault for most of his life. He had done many accomplishments, from defeating the mutant army of a mad man called the Master, helped developed a small village into a fledging republic, founded a settlement named Arroyo, and fathered a child. He had recently left Arroyo to wander his world, but through some means, had ended up in Remnant. The Vault Dweller helped the King in the wars against Mistral and Mantle. After the wars had ended, the King gave the Vault Dweller his sword as a sign of their friendship. The Vault Dweller, in turn, had the sword melted down and made into a pair of revolvers. One day, the Vault Dweller decided to explore the rest of Remnant, and help those who were in need. However, years later, he simply disappeared, with no one knowing where he went to."

Marston processed all of this as he finished smoking the rest of his cigarette. The Vault Dweller definitely rang a bell in his head. He remember his mother, telling him about the tales from the west, stories about the Vault Dweller and the Chosen One. After all, she did tell him that she originally came from the village of Arroyo before heading out east, meeting his father, and settling down to start a family and grow crops. If he had to guess, then he'd figure that the Vault Dweller had discovered the same bunker that he and his friends did, and had ended ended up in Remnant when he had activated the device.

Marston placed the butt of the cigarette in his pocket as he straightened himself in his seat. He turned to Cass, who had a flat, unimpressed look on her face. The former caravan boss raised an eyebrow at Ozpin.

"How can we tell you ain't bullshitting us," she asked. However, before she could go any further, Marston interrupted her by lifting up his left forearm to Ozpin, showing off his Pipboy.

"Tell me: did the Vault Dweller had something like this on his forearm?"

"Yes, I believe he did," the headmaster answered as Marston leaned back in his chair and smirked. Cass just simply frowned as Marston addressed Ozpin again.

"Now, I doubt you have a way for us to get back home, unless you happen to have a hot air balloon or a pair of magic slippers?"

"I do not, Mr. Marston. However, I have an offer to make to you."

"What, you wanna enroll us at your school? Hell, I think we're all way too old to be doin' that. And I don't think I'd look good in a schoolboy uniform."

" No, nothing of the sort. My offer is this: I will let you and your associates stay here at Beacon. We have spare rooms to accommodate you, and I think I can find some work for you to do. Does this sound reasonable to you?"

Marston placed his finger and thumb to his goatee and began to think over it. Cass leaned forward over to him to give her boss her own two cents.

"Take the deal, boss. Sounds like a pretty good offer to me. Hell, I don't think we're going to get a better offer."

"Hm, got a point, Cass. These rooms come with hot water, right," Marston asked as this time, Glynda answered his question.

"They do, and I believe you could do with a shower, Mr. Marston."

"Hm, you got a point there," the courier said as he pressed he turned a dial on his PipBoy before scrolling down on it before looking back up at Ozpin.

"There's another problem I wanna address, Ozpin: do you happen to use these as your currency," he said as he then pressed a button on his PipBoy. A flash appeared and a small paper bag appeared in his hands. However, the bag's contents were the real item of interest: bottle caps. They were two of types of them in the bag. One had the words "Nuka Cola" written on it in white while the other had the Sunset Sarsaparilla logo on it. Ozpin looked on impassively while Glynda blinked in surprise.

"Bottle caps?"

"Huh. I guess you don't use them then. Then what do you use? Coins? Paper bills?"

"We use Lien, Mr. Marston," Ozpin said as he brought up a plastic card and held it in his hand. It had a turquoise color to it with a stylized "L" in each of the corners, and a number ten in the middle. Marston looked at the lien card in interest.

"Plastic money, huh? To be honest, not the strangest currency that I've seen. Hell, I once made a delivery to a place that used military grade ammunition as its currency. But I'm gettin' off topic. You see, Ozpin, I bring up the money because I needed to confirm if we were flat broke in this world. Now that I know, I have a favor to ask of you. ED-E, bring it on out."

The eyebot let out a a few beeps, which Marston frowned at.

"No, not that."

It let out another beep, to which the courier let out a sigh.

"No, it's not that either."

ED-E let out another beep, and Marston smiled at the response.

"That's what I mean."

"How do you understand it," Glynda asked in confusion, to which the courier responded with a shrug.

"I listen carefully."

The eyebot's radar dish let out a flash and five items landed on Ozpin's desk. They were gold bars, and each perfectly rectangular, with the words "10 oz. Pure Gold" engraved in it. Marston held up one of them with ease, as if he were picking up an eraser.

"Now, me getting these hands on these things is a long story, and a story that I don't want to remember anytime sure. I got out with 37 bars, and I managed to sell off most of them. I kept five of these in reserve in case of an emergency. And I think now counts as one. You think you can do a favor for me, Ozpin?"

"You want me to find someone that can exchange your gold for Lien?"

The courier chuckled as he folded his arms across his his chest.

"Like I said, you're a perceptive one. Hope that you can find a buyer for 'em. I had a really damn hard time trying to find buyers for the other 32," the courier said as he got up from the chair stretched out a bit.

"Well, is there anything else you need to talk about?"

"No, I believe we're done here, Mr. Marston," Ozpin said as he brought out a slip of paper and what looked a plastic rectangle that had a thin line going down the center and a small golden diamond in the center. Marston took both and inspected the rectangle as Ozpin explained both items.

"You'll find the number of the room where you'll be staying at on the paper, and you use the scroll to open the room's door."

Marston held up the now named scroll as he looked at it.

"This a scroll? Doesn't look like one," Marston commented as he placed it in his back pocket. He then gave Ozpin and Glynda a tip of his hat.

"Y'all have a nice day."

With that, Marston, Boone, Cass, and ED-E made towards the exit, stopping to picking up their weapons (with Marston taking some time to gather up and properly store his on his person). As soon as the group left in the elevator, Glynda turned and looked at Ozpin.

"Are you sure that it's wise to let a person like him stay on campus, let alone work for you?"

"Glynda, I believe that Mr. Marston is the kind of person who we need."

Next Time - Settling In

* * *

 **A/N:** Welcome to the latest chapter of _Into the Great Wide Open_.

First off, sorry about the fact that it took over two months to update my writing. Here is a two word explanation for my dry spell: Microsoft Office.

Apparently, Microsoft has updated Microsoft Office, and I usually write all of the chapters to my fics in Microsoft Word. I found out that I had to buy the new Microsoft Office in order to use Microsoft Word. However, when I found that the price for the new Microsoft Office was around #100, I more or less said "Fuck that noise!" and decided to type this chapter in Doc Manager. And that transition took a hell of a time getting use to, hence the long update.

But to be fair, this isn't nearly as bad as my dry spell in the latter half of 2015.

Anyway, I'd like to give a shout out to my friend, beta, and an awesome author in his own right, Rocker1600. He came up with a suggestion about Ozpin knowing about the Wastelands, and suggested that someone from the Wastelands had previously came to Remnant. And thus the story involving the Vault Dweller was born.

And I also made a few references in this chapter, such as one to Stephen King's _Dark Tower_ novels (which I have started reading, I am enjoying them so far, and I eagerly look forward to the movie that's coming out this August). Whoever spots these references and mentions them in the comments get brownie points.

And my personal life is going pretty well. This summer as been pretty fun and a breath of fresh air after the shitty semester I had this year. I've been working at my summer job (dishwasher/food runner at McAlister's), playing Xbox games such as _Prey_ (really damn good game), and bingeing shows as _Westworld_ (which I've only just started watching) and the previous seasons of _Game of Thrones_ (really looking forward to the next season coming in a week). And I've been going to the movies, including _Wonder Woman_ , _Baby Driver_ , and _Spider-Man: Homecoming_ (which all are damn good films in their own right).

Anyway, please leave a review (since I appreciate feedback) and don't forget to fave and follow. I'll see you all next update.


	6. Settling In

**Into the Great Wide Open Chapter 6: Settling In**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Fallout: New Vegas_ or _RWBY._ The former belongs to Bethesda Softworks and Obsidian Entertainment, and the latter belongs to Rooster Teeth.

* * *

[Dormitories, Beacon Academy, Vale]

"Alright, now open sesame," Marston said as he pressed the scroll that Ozpin had given him up to what looked like the door knob area of said door. Cass, Boone, and ED-E stood behind him, waiting for their friend and employer to open up their new living quarters. Finding the dorms and the specific room that they had been given had taken a bit of time, the Wastelanders had eventually found them. Marston attempted to move the door open, but it did not budge. The courier pressed the scroll against the door again and tried to move it, but it was fruitless.

"It's not opening up, boss," Cass said as Marston shot her an annoyed look.

"Gee, thank you for that brilliant observation, Cass," Marston snarked as he let out a sigh before pocketing the scroll. He then looked back at the door before opening up the pouch on his belt.

"Alright, time for Plan B."

With that, the courier took out two items from his pouch: the first was a small screwdriver while the second was a bobby pin that had been bent at a 90-degree angle. Marston approached the door and got down on one knee.

"This should be done in a jiffy. After all, I am the master of unlockin'," the courier said as started his attempt to pick the lock. However, as he peered over the door, a realization hit him like a boomerang.

"This door doesn't have a keyhole. It's electronically locked."

"You just realized this _now_ ," Boone said, with a bit exasperation hidden in his usual stoic voice.

"Hey, I'm use to doors usually having a keyhole of some kind. The only times I've seen doors without keyholes are in Vaults, bunkers, and military installations."

Marston let in a deep breath as he put away his lockpicking tools. He took a few steps back before rushing forward and kicking the door. The sound of the boot on the door echoed through the hall, but the door did not open. Marston continued to kick the door while his companions looked on. Cass leaned towards Boone and talked to him under her breath.

"Fifty caps and a bottle of Old Royale says that the boss will bring out Knock Knock."

"Caps are worthless here," Boone reminded her as Marston gave the door another good kick.

"Alright, then fifty of that plastic money that people use here."

"Which we don't have any of."

"Well, we'll be getting some of that plastic money once Ozpin does his currency conversation magic."

Marston, meanwhile, let out a frustrated sigh, having realized that trying to kick the door down had been a exercise in futility. He then brought up his Pip-Boy, scrolled over to its Inventory tab, specifically the weapons section.

"Time to cut the knot," he said as a new weapon materialized in his hands. It was a fire axe with a matte black handle, polished steel head, and a long fluke. The axe was the aforementioned Knock-Knock, which Marston had picked up in a heavily irradiated NCR Military town Camp Searchlight. Said weapon had served the courier faithfully in his travels. He had first used it to butcher a group of prospectors he had helped in said town after they decided that Marston was expendable and attempted to kill him.

Marston grasped the axe firmly in his hands, and hefted in the air. The imagery started to remind Cass of an old pre-War horror flick she once saw. However, before Marston could bring his weapon down, a quiet voice with an odd accent interrupted him.

"Um, what are you doing?"

The three humans and one eyebot turned towards the source of said voice. Standing there was a teenage girl who was a bit on the short side. She wore what looked like the female uniform for Beacon students. She had warm, chocolate brown eyes that matched her long brown hair. However, there was one thing that stood out about her. On the top of her head was a pair of ear that belonged on an animal. And as Marston's self-taught education recalled, said animal was known as a Cottontail.

The courier put down his axe and let it hang in his right hand, as he began to explain things to the cottontail girl.

"Uh, howdy there. We were given this here room by your headmaster. He gave this scroll thing to open it up, but never did explain how to use it to open it. I was just about to use my last resort to get the door open'."

"Oh, well opening the dorm doors with the scroll is rather simple," the cottontail girl replied as he had Marston took out the scroll and press the golden button in the middle. With that, the device opened up, revealing a small pane of glowing glass in the middle. It was now the size of small rectangle in Marston's hand. The scroll suddenly flashed, and a swirling wheel appeared in the middle of the glass before being replaced by a green check mark. The door suddenly opened, and Marston simply in surprise and astonishment before looking down at the scroll. It was certainly much more advanced than his Pip-Boy in some ways. The courier then turned towards the cottontail girl and gave her a tip of his hat.

"Much obliged, lil' lady."

"Oh, it was nothing," the girl said before walking off. Marston turned towards his companions, and saw Cass rummaging through her open knapsack. She pulled out a pint of Old Royale whiskey, one of the many, _many_ bottles that she kept on her person.

"You'll get the other half of the bet later," Cass said as she handed the liquor over to the sniper. Boone put the bottle into a pouch on his pants, not being the type to drink excessively like Cass. The Wastelanders quickly went into the room and shut the door.

Marston placed Knock-Knock near the door and got a good look around at their new living quarters. The room had four beds on wooden frames, complete with red blankets and white pillows. The beds were kept in pairs, and between the beds were a two-shelf bookshelf. Next to each of the beds were a desk and chair, which Marston guessed students used to study. There was what looked like a door off to the side, which obviously lead to the bathrooms. All in all, the room paled in comparison to the luxurious presidential suite of the Lucky 38. However, it had soft beds and a place to wash up, and that was good enough for Marston.

The courier took off his satchel and placed it on the a nearby bed. His duster soon followed, as Marston folded it and put the coat on the back of the chair next to his bed. He then unclipped the bandoileer from his chest and placed it over his duster. Lastly, he took out That Gun, his bowie knife, and the various other weapons he kept on him and placed them on the desk. He then looked at his three companions.

"Find a bunk and settle in," he said as Cass and Boone did so, taking the bunks across from the courier. ED-E, meanwhile, simply hovered in place, not needing a bunk as he was a robot.

"Y'know, this place is a bit cramped," Cass commented as she sat on her bed. She had placed her shotgun against the wall and her revolver on the nightstand. The caravan boss was currently unpacking her knapsack, placing three large bottles of whiskey, along with several small ones, on her bed.

"Hey, I've slept in worse places, like a nightstalker den," Marston said as he opened up his satchel and started to search through his satchel. He then looked up and noticed that both Cass and Boone were giving him looks.

"How did you end up sleeping in a nightstalker den," Boone asked plainly as the courier answered.

"It's quite a story, Boone. I was around seventeen or so, and just starting out as a courier. I did a delivery to Angel's Boneyard, and was heading back east to the Mojave. It was almost sundown, and my legs were aching. I needed to find some place to rest. I didn't want to camp out in the open, since I was 'fraid that I'd get jumped by raiders like the Vipers or the Jackals. After some searching, I found a cave that seemed like a nice place to camp out in. When I stepped inside, I lit up a flare to get a better look, and readied my rifle, a Colt Rangemaster. And then I saw them, a pack of nightstalkers. There were five of them, and they were growlin' at me for invading their territory. I threw my flare at them and took aim with my rifle. The nightstalkers spat their venom and tried to pounce on me, but I was quicker. I shot 'em all, two rounds to each of their heads. They all went down in half a mag, and I won my campsite for the night."

"So why the hell did you stay there," Cass asked as she took out Big Boomer from her knapsack's right-side pocket and then took out a collapsible stun baton from the left pocket. She extended the weapon to its full length and briefly activated the stun function, electricity crackling along the length of the weapon.

"Like I said, I earned my right to sleep there by killing those nightstalkers," Marston said as he dug through one of his satchel pockets and pulled out a harmonica.

"Huh, I was wonderin' where I put this," the courier commented as he played a few notes on the instrument before placing it on his desk. He then continued to take out the contents of his satchel, starting with pulling out a small stack of pre-war magazines and comics.

"So, what did you do with the nightstalker corpses," Boone asked as he started to put away his few belongings. He started by unloading his weapons and moved onto a dump pouch he kept on the small of his back.

"I just burned 'em," Marston said simply as took out the flare gun and .32 pistol out of his satchel along with their respective ammunitions. He placed both of them on his desk next to the harmonica.

"You didn't try to cook 'em," Cass asked as he took out the remaining contenets of her knapsack. They were the materials for making her moonshine, a deck of playing cards, and a change of clothes, consisting of a flannel shirt and some undergarments. Marston gave her a look of disgust at her question.

"Hell no! Everyone knows that nightstalker meat tastes terrible. The only thing that a nightstalker's body is good for is using its blood to make antivenom."

Marston then took the last items out of his satchel: his bottle of homemade tequila, several stimpaks, a few syringes of Med-X, and some jerky made from Bighorner meat. The couirier placed the rest of his assorted items around the desk, covering about half of it. Marston looked over to his friends, who had already sorted out their belongings.

"So now what, boss," Cass asked as Marston briefly yawned before answering.

"Hm, looks like everything we have on our persons is accounted for. However, there's still on the stuff I keep on the Pipboy," Marston said as he tapped two fingers on the device on his wrist.

"And there's still the stuff that's kept in ED-E."

The Eyebot gave off a beep at the mention of his name.

"So you want to do inventory on everything we had with us when we got transported to Remnant," Boone concluded as the courier replied with a nod.

"Yup, but we're going to do that tomorrow mornin'."

"Why's that," Cass asked as Marston took off his boots and socks, before looking at the caravan boss.

"Cass, today I caused us to travel to another world, almost got mauled by an overgrown mutt, meet a bunch of kids with superpowers and fancy weapons, and found out from a headmaster we weren't the first ones here. All in all, I'm just dead tired. So g'night."

With that, Marston lied on his bed, with his hat covering his eyes. Within a few minutes, the courier was sound asleep. Cass blinked in astonishment at how fast her employer went to sleep.

"Hm, went out like a light," she commented as she looked at the courier. She then turned towards Boone.

"Wanna play a game of caravan," she asked the sniper a she held up her deck of cards.

"Hm, why not," Boone said as Cass looked over to ED-E, who was floating in a corner of a room.

"What about you, rust bucket? Wanna join in?"

The eyebot let off a few short beeps as Cass began to shuffle the deck."

"Yeah, figured you say something about not having hands. Well, it was worth a try."

* * *

 _The next day…_

Marston let out a relaxed sigh as he sinked into his hot bathwater. He placed his feet on the rim of the tub, flexing his toes a bit. The soles of his feet had been toughened and callused from all of the walking he had done as a courier.

Marston felt his muscles becoming less tense as he relaxed in the water, and the sweat and dirt that he had accumulated from the previous day wash away from his body. He wondered if the people of Remnant would take something as simple as this for granted. For anyone living in the Wasteland, a hot bath would be considered a luxury. He remembered when he grew up on his family farm, which was some ways east from the Colorado River, and a mile walk from a settlement called Tully. His mother would make him and his younger siblings bathe in a metal tub.

Marston sat up in his bath, the water swishing and swooshing from his movements, and ran his hands through his hair. He then stood up and got out of the tub, letting the water drip down from his body and onto the tiles of the bathroom floor. His Pip-Boy was sitting on the counter next to a towel and an outfit that he had selected for the day. He grabbed the towel and used it to dry himself off, starting by scrubbing his hair dry. Marston then looked at himself in the mirror as he finished his drying.

Marston had a well-built frame with a fair bit of corded muscle on it. He wasn't exactly ripped like a body builder, but his muscle mass was pretty visible. His torso had been decorated with scars and tattoos. And each of the scars told a story. A diagonal scar on the lower right side of his stomach was where a frenzied Mother Deathclaw had slashed him. A mess of small stab wound scars on his left side was where one of the Ghost people of the Sierra Madre had stabbed him. And the scar right above his belly button was where he got stabbed with a knife, resulting from an argument he had gotten into over 150 caps and a bottle of bourbon.

The number of tattoos he had on his body was small when compared to his scars. On his right bicep was a tattoo of a skull wearing a cowboy hat with two old school revolvers at an angle underneath it. On his left bicep was a tattoo of a stylized 6. The last tattoo was underneath his left breast. It was of an Old-World flag. It was red that had a blue X on it that had a white border. In that blue X were thirteen white stars.

Martston started to whistle to himself as began to put on his outfit. It consisted of a tan button-up dress shirt, khaki pants, and a light brown vest that was unbuttoned. He also wore his worn-out boots, red bandana worn around his neck, and his gun belt, which now had a large belt buckle with a symbol of a bull on it. Marston then briefly scrolled through his Pip-Boy's inventory, until he found what he was looking for, and it then materialized in his hand.

Said item was a worn, dark brown, oilskin duster that the courier had taken off of the bounty hunter Caleb McCaffery. Marston had encountered him while working as a debt collector for the Garrett twins, the owner of Freeside's only casino and brothel, the Atomic Wrangler. MCCaffery was an arrogant son-of-a-bitch, and thought he was faster with his shotgun than Marston was with his revolver. Needless to say, the courier had proven him wrong and shot him dead before the bounty hunter could take him. He bought the caps McCaffery owned to the Garrets along with his hat as proof of his death. However, he kept the duster for himself, thinking of it as a trophy.

Marston then put on the coat, rolling up its left sleeve to compensate for his Pip-Boy. He then stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed and ready for the day.

Cass and Boone were currently having coffee, with the grounds being made from roasted honey mesquite pods and coyote tobacco. ED-E, on the other hand, was currently floating around the room, doing nothing in particular. Marston took the coffee pot, which was sitting on an electric hot plate on his desk, and pulled himself a mug.

"Enjoyed your bath," Cass asked as she leaned back in her chair, pouring a bit of whiskey into her coffee. Marston simply nodded as he took a sip of his own coffee.

"Yup, it was relaxin' and loosened up my muscles," Marston said as he placed his cup back on the desk, right next to That Gun. The courier then picked up his sidearm, twirled it, and holstered it. He then clapped his hands to gather as he looked his three companions.

"So, shall we get started?"

"Why not, we got nothing better to do," Cass said, while ED-E let out a beep of agreement and Boone simply nodded in response. Marston brought up his Pip-Boy and switched over to the weapons section of the Pip-Boy's Items category. Slowly, but surely, the courier's own personal stockpile of weapons appeared in his bed, covering every inch of it. Marston then lowered his Pip-Boy and smiled at his collections.

"Alright, there's all of my guns. Now ED-E, bring out all the weapons you have stored on you, got it?"

The eyebot replied with a long beep followed by a short beep before floating to the center of the room. With a flash of light, all of the weapons held within ED-E's databanks dropped onto the floor in a big pile. Marston let out a sigh as she looked at all of the weapons.

"Well, this might take awhile…"

* * *

 _Sometime later…_

"Huh, I was wonderin' where I put this," Marston commented as he picked up a Browning Automatic Rifle out of the now dwindling weapon pile. It was a souvenir from his time at the Sierra Madre. He had removed the weapon's bipod, finding it heavy and cumbersome. He then picked up another weapon from the pile, a .357 magnum police revolver he had also found at the abandoned resort. It had served as a good substitute for That Gun while he was doing Father Elijah's work to get into the casino's vault. He was still haunted by his time there, and occasionally had night terrors about it. The sudden beeping of his bomb collar that could occur any time. The Ghost people rushing towards him like a predator after their prey, the cold green eyes of their hazmat suits staring at him…

Marston shoke these thoughts out of his head as he placed the automatic rifle in the cornor of the room next to Medicine Stick and his .45 submachine gun. He took the police pistol and placed on his desk, next to his stack of magazines and comics. Marston had also taken his personal book collection out of his Pip-Boy, placing it on top of the stack.

The courier had cleared of his bed of most of his arsenal, having placed them around the room. A few weapons on the bed still remained. Marston picked up one of them as he sat down at his desk's chair. It was a 9mm pistol that had been heavily customized, with mother-of-pearl grips that had the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe painted on them. It also had a polish nickel finish with a golden trigger. To top it all off, its body had been heavily damascened with ivy and floral details. The weapon had previously belonged to Benny, who had called it Maria. Marston had kept it after using it to kill the gangster. The gun was both a work of art and a deadly weapon.

"I still can't believe you keep that thing around," Boone commented as he sat on his bed, inspecting a 5mm assault carbine that been modified with an extended magazine, forged receiver, and light bolt. The sniper had taken some of the weapons he preferred to use out of the pile. These included the assault carbine, some frag grenades (out of many explosive throwables that were still in the pile), a customized anti-material rifle, and his old hunting rifle, which he had seldom used when he had upgraded to his Marksmen carbine, the All-American.

"What the hell do you have against Maria?"

"It's something that my old CO use to tell me, that engravings offer no tactical advantages."

"You know me, Boone. I like to take trophies off of some of the folks I've killed."

"Yeah, like all of that damn gold you got from Elijah," Cass commented as held up a bulky, grey weapon called the Compliance Regulator. It was an electroshock weapon similar to a taser, and the beams it fired would temporarily stun and paralyze its target.

" _Hm, I should get a holster for this one_ ," Marston thought to himself as he looked down at Maria. He wondered if the city of Vale near the school had any weapon shops in it. His musings were interrupted when he heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," he said as he placed Maria back on the desk, and went off to open the door. What greeted him was Team RWBY. Marston smirked at this as he leaned in the door frame.

"How's it going, kiddo," the courier said as Ruby beamed up at him.

"Hey there, Marston. Professor Goodwitch said that you were staying here, and we thought we might stop by… and… visit… you…"

Ruby's attention was distracted by the presence of the various weapons leaned up against the room's walls, previewed through the door ways. With a burst of rose petals, she charged into the room, checking out each and every one of them, with an excited noise coming out of her. She was acting like a kid that had been taken to a toy store. Marston just stood there, dumfounded while Weiss just pressed her hand against her forehead and sighed at her partner's antics.

"Ruby, you should wait for Mr. Marston to invite you in."

"Nah, it's alright. Come on in, you don't need to take off your shoes or anything," Marston said as he allowed the teenagers to step inside the room. He grabbed the coffee pot off of the hot plate and held it up.

"Anyone care for a bit o' coffee?"

No one took the courier up on his offer, and just shrugged and refilled his own cup. He walked over to Ruby, who was currently inspecting a riot shotgun. The weapon was a 12-gauge semi-automatic, outfitted with a pistol grip in place of the stock and loaded with a drum magazine.

"Y'know, I had a feelin' you had a thing for weapons, but I never thought you'd be this enthusiastic about it," the courier said as Ruby looked up back at the man, and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"Yeah, I'm a bit of a weapons nut."

"Why do you need so many weapons, anyway? You only have two hands," Weiss asked as Marston turned around and addressed the heiress.

"Well, I usually get excitable as to what to use. Love to have my options open. Plus, it's good to have all of these on hand. Better to have 'em and not need them rather than need them and not have 'em.

Yang then picked up on what the courier was saying.

"So, what you're saying is that you're a jack of all trades."

"And a master of none. You summed it up perfectly, atomic blonde"

The three girls stared at Marston oddly at the name he just gave Yang. The courier sighed as he explained himself.

"Sorry, I like to give people nicknames. Makes it easier to remember 'em."

Weiss frowned and crossed her arms at Marston's statement.

"That's pretty rude, you know."

"Well, old habits die hard, I guess."

Blake, meanwhile, was more interested by the book collection on Marston's desk. There were seven of them in a pile and had been worn downed, complete with dog-eared pages. And all of them were composed of titles that she never heard of. The titles were _On the Road_ , _The Martian Chronicles_ , _A Clockwork Orange, Slaughterhouse-Five, A Boy and His Dog,_ _Starship Troopers,_ and _The Wasteland Survival Guide_. Blake picked up the Martian book and read the name of the author.

"Ray Bradbury," she said, unfamiliar with the author. Marston walked over to her and snatched the book from her hands.

"Ah, good read. Bradbury really likes to write about Mars. Pretty creative with what he wrote."

"I see," Blake stated simply as she picked up the next book on the counter. Ruby then approached the courier, holding an all-too-familiar rifle from his personal arsenal. It was an AR-15 style rifle, with the barrel of the weapon having been shorten down. The weapon had heavy wear and sun damage on its wood and metal. The wooden handguard was held in place with metal clamps. The buttstock had a single word that was carved on each side of it. On the right side was the word "Arrêt!". On the left side was the word "Stop!".

"Ah, that's the Survivalist's Rifle. Found in the Zion Canyon, and it has served me well. It uses 12.7mm rounds, and packs quite a punch. I'd think you'd like it a lot, bright eyes."

Ruby then noticed something off about the front of the gun, and investigated its front sight.

"The front sight is bent to the left," she observed as the courier nodded at her statement.

"Yeah, that was always a downside to the thing. Makes it kinda hard to aim with it. I was never able to find the right tools to fix it."

An idea suddenly popped into Ruby's head.

"Beacon has a workshop for students to work on their weapons. Maybe there could be something there to fix your rifle."

Marston was caught off guard by the mention of a workshop. However, it did make sense. These kids go here to learn how to fight the Grimm, and it they would need a place to repair or modify their weapons.

"Huh, nice thinkin', bright eyes. Mind comin' with me? I might need some help finding it, and then findin' what tools to use."

"Sure," the young huntress chirped as she leads the courier out of his room. Cass, Boone, and ED-E stared at the three remaining teenagers, and the caravan boss spoke up.

"You know, while you're all here, you could help us put away more of our crap. We've taken care of most of the weapons, but we still have stuff like food and crafting material to put away."

"And how do you carry this stuff around," Blake asked skeptically as ED-E answered her by materializing the rest of the items kept in his databanks, which was then dumped onto the floor unceremoniously. Weiss's jaw dropped at the sight of the eyebot pulling all of it out of thin air. She suddenly gathered her bearings and shook her head.

"Look, even if we did help you organize everything, it would take a long time, and that would interfere in the time set aside for our studies, and-"

"Ah c'mon, Ice Queen, a little altruism never hurt anybody," Yang interrupted as she started to help out, gathering up canned food and various electronic components. Blake soon joined in helping, and Weiss, after a sigh, decided to help out as well.

Next Time - Résumé of A Mojave Courier

* * *

 **A/N:** And welcome to the next chapter of Into the Great Wide Open!

I honestly wanted to get this chapter out on the 23rd, which was the one-year anniversary for the fic. However, I was delayed by Thanksgiving celebrations. And during said celebrations, I participated in a three mile marathon (my legs still hurt from it), saw the _Justice League_ movie (which I found to be pretty enjoyable), and I did Black Friday shopping, in which I bought several games for my Xbox. These games included _The Evil Within 2, Titanfall 2, Resident Evil 4, Watchdogs, Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition,_ and _Castlevania: Symphony of the Night_.

And not a lot happens in this chapter, asides from our heroes starting to settle in, some character interactions, and we get some more hints about Marston's past (and his past we continued to be explored in the fic, including the use of flashbacks).

And one thing that should be of note is that this fic's rating has been upped to an M. That's because of the bath scene with Marston. I know that nothing graphic was described in the scene, but its better to be on the safe side. And I also upped the rating because as this fic goes on, it'll get more violent.

And now to discuss some things in this chapter. You may noticed that Marston has a tattoo of the Confederate flag on him. Its sort of an in joke with me and my friend and beta, Rocker 1600. When I originally showed him the first part of the very first chapter, he suggested that I change Marston's last name to Lee, after General Robert E. Lee (since he opposes Ulyssess, who is named after Ulysses S. Grant, Lee's Union counterpart. However, I turned that down but still gave him a hint of the Confederacy with the flag tattoo.

And the next discussion subject is Marston's book collection, and the selection of titles. For the collection, I chose books that were published in the period of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as an easter egg to _Fallout 3_. I chose _A Boy and His Dog_ and _The Martian Chronicles_ (which included the short story _There Will Come Soft Rains_ ) as a wink to two stories that served as possible influences on the Fallout franchise. Kyle Kallgren mentioned them both of them as possible of those stories as influences in his Between the Lines on the Fallout franchise. And I have a feeling that many of you say that the pre-war world of Fallout, one that was culturally stuck in the 1950s for over a century, would never allow something like _A Clockwork Orange_ to be published. My counter-argument is that the 1950s saw works like Allen Ginsberg's _Howl_ and William S. Burroghs' _Naked Lunch_ being published, and both of which were challenged because they violated obscenity laws. So there's that. And before you ask, I did study the works of the Beat Generation back in high school, but I am currently getting into another tangent.

I don't know when the next chapter will get published, but I promise the time between them will not be so long. Please leave a review (as I appreciate feedback), as well as fave and follow. I'll see you all next update.


End file.
